Sub teacher banned after pledge
A Parkway spokeswoman told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday evening that the district would make a statement after officials had gathered more information about the incident. Kelly Educational Staffing, the agency that employs Furkin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Furkin told the Post-Dispatch that in late October he was the substitute teacher for a freshman English class at Parkway South High when the school made its daily announcements over the PA system. After announcements, students are asked to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
“So I say, ‘All right, let’s go,’ and we recite the pledge,” he said. “There are always two or three who don’t stand up because it’s not required. So at the end of the pledge I said, ‘Thanks to all of you that participated in that. I’m sure that all of those families who lost loved ones so that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today would appreciate the effort.’”
Furkin said a student asked to go to the school counselor’s office, so Furkin wrote the student a pass to go. Later on, he said, a school administrator questioned Furkin about what happened and told him that a student had been “hurt” by what was said after the pledge.
“I said, ‘Oh, I didn’t mean it that way, that wasn’t my intent at all,’” Furkin said. “He said ‘We’ll get back to you,’ and then the next day after that, I’m no longer welcome in the building.”
Furkin said Kelly Educational Staffing, the agency the school district uses to book substitute teachers, told him that he wasn’t being allowed back to the school because he had “bullied” a student.
“To me personally, the flag represents freedom, and there’s a lot of price that’s been paid for the freedom we have today,” Furkin said. “That’s all I’m saying to the kids. ... Could somebody feel offended by that? I would hope not. But like I said at the (school board) meeting, when you say something, you don’t know how someone else is going to perceive it.”
After Furkin made his comments Wednesday night, Parkway School Board President Jeff Todd told Furkin that the board would communicate with him via a letter “in the near future.”
Furkin said he had been substitute teaching with Parkway for about 10 years, and for the last several years he had largely worked at Parkway South High . Teachers at the high school regularly requested him to substitute for their classes, he said.
“I worked every day,” Furkin said. “I had a really good presence in the building. I know all the teachers, and I had a pretty good relationship with the students. ... It was a wonderful place to work. I absolutely loved it.”
Furkin said that Kelly Educational Staffing representatives offered to set him up at another school but that, after this incident, he no longer wanted to work as a substitute teacher.
“If I’m being knocked out of the building, I’m just done,” he said. “’I don’t want to sub anymore, take me off your rolls. I quit. I’ve had it.’”
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Furkin told the Post-Dispatch that in late October he was the substitute teacher for a freshman English class at Parkway South High when the school made its daily announcements over the PA system. After announcements, students are asked to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
“So I say, ‘All right, let’s go,’ and we recite the pledge,” he said. “There are always two or three who don’t stand up because it’s not required. So at the end of the pledge I said, ‘Thanks to all of you that participated in that. I’m sure that all of those families who lost loved ones so that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today would appreciate the effort.’”
Furkin said a student asked to go to the school counselor’s office, so Furkin wrote the student a pass to go. Later on, he said, a school administrator questioned Furkin about what happened and told him that a student had been “hurt” by what was said after the pledge.
“I said, ‘Oh, I didn’t mean it that way, that wasn’t my intent at all,’” Furkin said. “He said ‘We’ll get back to you,’ and then the next day after that, I’m no longer welcome in the building.”
Furkin said Kelly Educational Staffing, the agency the school district uses to book substitute teachers, told him that he wasn’t being allowed back to the school because he had “bullied” a student.
“To me personally, the flag represents freedom, and there’s a lot of price that’s been paid for the freedom we have today,” Furkin said. “That’s all I’m saying to the kids. ... Could somebody feel offended by that? I would hope not. But like I said at the (school board) meeting, when you say something, you don’t know how someone else is going to perceive it.”
After Furkin made his comments Wednesday night, Parkway School Board President Jeff Todd told Furkin that the board would communicate with him via a letter “in the near future.”
Furkin said he had been substitute teaching with Parkway for about 10 years, and for the last several years he had largely worked at Parkway South High . Teachers at the high school regularly requested him to substitute for their classes, he said.
“I worked every day,” Furkin said. “I had a really good presence in the building. I know all the teachers, and I had a pretty good relationship with the students. ... It was a wonderful place to work. I absolutely loved it.”
Furkin said that Kelly Educational Staffing representatives offered to set him up at another school but that, after this incident, he no longer wanted to work as a substitute teacher.
“If I’m being knocked out of the building, I’m just done,” he said. “’I don’t want to sub anymore, take me off your rolls. I quit. I’ve had it.’”
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Parkway Substitute Teacher Jim Furkin Pledge Of Allegiance School Board Parkway South High School
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Rachel Rice
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Previous comments... You are currently on page 2.
I love my country, but I am an individual, and I do not pledge my allegiance to anyone or any government, especially a government that pledges to protect the rights of individuals as written in the constitution and breaks that pledge every minute of its existence.
The offended student may be one of those activists that tapes their own mouth shut to pretend that they are not allowed to freely speak. Ironically, they always are.
https://youtu.be/2NAKH8jdgm8