Delaware Teacher Sorry After Mother Complains She Told Class Obama Is a ‘Scary’ Muslim
A Delaware elementary school teacher has apologized to a local mother, her attorney says, after she and her daughters complained that the teacher told her fifth-grade class she would not vote for Barack Obama because he is a Muslim and “is scary.”
Dina Odetalla, who is Muslim, has a 10-year-old daughter in that class, and filed an internal complaint with Lord Baltimore Elementary School after she heard about the Obama comments, attorney Greg Varallo, a partner at the Wilmington firm Richards, Layton & Finger, told FOXNews.com on Wednesday.
Varallo called the remarks “unfortunate,” but said the matter is now “resolved.”
“There was a conference and there was an apology,” Varallo said.
Obama is a Christian and has been fighting rumors about Muslim ties throughout his campaign.
Varallo said an article Wednesday in The (Wilmington) News Journal that reported the state Human Relations Commission is investigating the matter is untrue. Varallo said the commission is actually investigating remarks allegedly made by a teacher at a different school where another one of Odetalla’s daughters attends. He said that case was spurred by remarks about the Prophet Muhammad that his client found offensive to Muslims.
He did not identify the teacher who made the remarks about Obama at Lord Baltimore Elementary School, but said he believes the teacher is still working at the school.
The comments were originally made public when the 10-year-old student’s older sisters in February wrote a letter to the editor, published in Delaware’s Cape Gazette, detailing the teacher’s political comments.
She reportedly made the remarks before a mock Super Tuesday primary on Feb. 5.
“Her teacher told the class that she is a Republican and that Barack Obama ‘believes in different things and is scary,’” the sisters, Fatima and Basima Abdelsalam, wrote in their letter.
Calling her remarks “dangerous and untrue,” they added: “We are American Muslim kids. We love our country … Kids are being taught hatred and fear of Muslims. Our sister was badly hurt by what was said in her classroom.”
The school district has released a statement saying it has conducted a thorough investigation. They too say they’ve resolved the issue after meeting with the mother and the teacher who allegedly made the comments.
A representative from the elementary school could not be reached for comment.
FOXNews.com’s Judson Berger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Interesting how many will judge without the complete story. Too many (for and against the teachers comments) have NO IDEA what was actually said, in what context, or what the outcome was! Next time, investigate the entire story and not just what the 10 yr old’s sisters had printed in a local news magazine. Note also that the letter was written and the teacher was quoted by young ladies who were NOT present during the “comments”. You want a teacher fired and her credentials lost based on hearsay?
So what is so great about being in any religion? From the actions of those who have a religion, I prefer none. If an athiest were running and had the best mind and kind morals and did not slander others or the United States and had the ability to get things done by listening and being open-minded and believed that WAR also STOPS a beating heart, and that the government should stay out of my bedroom and my choices, I’d vote for that person.
This is clearly more framing to the picture of race relations in this country. Hate speech from the pulpit to hate speech in the classroom. There is no place for this kind of ignorance in our school systems or our places of worship. We (Americans) have been blessed with a very unique opportunity to really take an evolutionary leap in our psychology. We have representatives of three historically excluded and marginalized groups in our society running for the top office in the land. As far as we have come this continues to show just how far we have to go
What a dumb teacher. As a teacher it makes me sick when teachers cannot be objective. I am a Republican, and I teach my students to research their thoughts and prove them to themselves. (As much as I would like like to tel them Hillary is evil and a liar) I unfortunately see too many teacher who use their stage to promote their views. Of coarse I like turning those teachers into the principal. Nuf Said