Kristin Pitzen, California school teacher, posted video to social media of herself instructing students to say the pledge of allegiance to a Progress Pride flag.
In the video she has since deleted, she could be heard joking, “OK, so during third period, we do announcements and they do the Pledge of Allegiance. I always tell my class: ‘Stand if you feel like it, don’t stand if you feel like it, say the words if you want. You don’t have to say the words.’ So my class decided to stand but not say the words. Totally fine. Except for the fact that my room does not have a flag.”
She then noted that she took the American flag down, placed it somewhere, and couldn’t find it.
“My (student) today goes, ‘Hey, it’s kind of weird that we just stand and we say it to nothing. … In the meantime, I tell this kid, ‘We do have a flag in the class that you can pledge your allegiance to.’ And he like looks around and goes, ‘Oh, that one?'” she said as she imitated her student pointing to the Pride flag.
Allegedly, she took the Stars and Stripes down because it made her feel “uncomfortable.”
As expected, the video led to Pitzen facing backlash from the public.
In the meantime, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District has launched an investigation into Pitzen over the video, the district said in a statement. While the investigation continues, she has been placed on administrative leave.
“We assure you that we take matters like this seriously,” the district’s statement read. “Showing respect for our nation’s flag is an important value that we instill in our students and an expectation of our employees.”
A personal post by a teacher about the American flag is causing alarm/concern. Respecting our flag is a value we instill in students and is an expectation of our staff. We take this matter with extreme seriousness and are investigating and addressing it.
— Newport-Mesa USD (@nmusd) August 28, 2021
One person posted on the social media that Pitzen “is an absolute disgrace to teachers” and warned the teacher to keep her own “views and political stances out of the classroom.”
“Nothing against the pride flag, but we lost 13 service men and women a few days ago for that flag (in Afghanistan)… respect it!” another person commented.
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