Lee County teacher under investigation after race, slavery discussion goes viral on TikTok

Reporter: Dannielle Garcia Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Credit: WINK News.

A teacher is in trouble after a student posted a controversial video on social media of a questionable lesson.

A TikTok post from inside a Lee County classroom has been seen by millions, and it was the cause that put a teacher under investigation.

A Lee County School Board member confirmed the accused teacher was not in the classroom Tuesday.

A School District of Lee County spokesperson told us investigators went to Island Coast High School in Cape Coral to talk with students and staff members. The goal was to determine if the teacher under investigation violated any standards or contracts.

The video posted on social media records a portion of a class lesson about the American slavery period.

The student who posted the recording gave us permission to post it in our video above. He posted three short clips.

At one point, the student is heard questioning what his teacher is telling him and fellow students about slavery. During one of the clips, a girl in class is heard talking about hate speech.

The portion of the recordings making headlines is when the teacher is heard talking about the “n-word.”

We asked school board member Gwyn Gittens about what she saw and heard in the videos.

“Listening to some of the biases was a concern,” Gittens said. “Not just the slavery and the ‘n-word’ but also against women, and my main thing about it is we have training for our teachers and staff.”

Gittens told us the District has an equity and diversity department that trains people to learn about and be sensitive to these types of issues.

We sent emails and made phone calls to the accused teacher, hoping to get his side of the story. He did not respond to us at the time our story aired or in time for online publication.

We also reached out to the Teachers Association-Lee County, and a spokesperson told us they were not aware of what happened and would not comment.

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