Salem substitute teacher barred after ‘go back to Mexico’ remark

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A substitute teacher in Salem has been barred from teaching in a district after a student says the teacher said “go back to Mexico” when the student said he didn’t want to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

KOIN reports the incident happened Tuesday at Swegle Elementary School in the Salem-Keizer School District, where the unnamed substitute teacher has worked for two years.

A spokesperson for the district said a student wasn’t participating in the Pledge of Allegiance and, after the teacher made a racial comment, the student reported what happened.

Lillian Govus, director of communications for Salem-Keizer, said: “It’s hard to stand up to an adult and say that an adult is wrong. But, in this case, he did the absolute right thing.”

The substitute teacher will no longer be allowed to teach in the district.