Palm Beach County, Florida, School Board Member Edwin Ferguson, a Democrat, defended bad teacher conduct following the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, deemed him a “racist bigot” and compared him to Hitler by making the argument, “I’ve yet to hear a person say that I missed Adolf Hitler.”
“Last couple of days, I’ve received a number of contacts in regard to concern about teachers who are fearful of losing their teaching certificates because of this [sic] comments that they made in regards to a gentleman by the name of Charlie Kirk, who until the last week, I knew nothing of,” Ferguson admitted.
However, Ferguson said he researched Kirk and criticized the Florida Department of Education (DOE) letter to superintendents that warned educators to conduct themselves properly in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“There’s a letter that came from the DOE to the superintendents, cautioning all superintendents to caution their staff to be careful about what they say, because they could ultimately lose their teaching certificates. Because if students and parents feel that the comment of the teacher somehow makes them feel bad, then there could be some consequences and repercussions on that,” he said, explaining that he looked at the “statutes and the administrative rules that were referenced in this September 11 letter from DOE.”
“I’m thinking, unless as a parent or you as a teacher feel bad because I as a teacher don’t miss a racist — a racist bigot at that — I don’t see how you’re going to be at risk of losing your teaching certificate,” he said.
“So, you know, when we talk about the Holocaust, I’ve yet to hear a person of the Jewish faith say that I missed Adolf Hitler. He said a very a lot of toxic things that were very undermining to society at large. We want to never forget that, and we want to be better than that,” he said before continuing to smear Kirk.
“The things that I’ve heard from this gentleman, Mr. Kirk, as it relates to the black experience here in the country are definitely things that would make me say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry that he’s died, that he passed away, but he did not use his voice effectively,’” Ferguson, who is black, continued.
“So, that’s my two cents on that,” he added, encouraging teachers to “say what you need to say but just be respectful and don’t say it in a discriminatory way against him or anyone else who might be offended.”
His remarks follow last week’s DOE letter penned by Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas, who vowed to investigate “every educator who engages in this vile, sanctionable behavior” celebrating Kirk’s assassination.
“This memorandum serves to remind superintendents and their employees that they are held to a higher standard as public servants,” the memo reads in part, later adding, “Although educators have First Amendment rights, these rights do not extend without limit into their professional duties.”
“Together, we must uphold the highest standards of professionalism and keep Florida’s classrooms places of safety and academic achievement for every student,” Kamoutsas continued, adding, “Govern yourselves accordingly.”
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