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Teacher's comments result in reprimand
Class discussion on election was criticized
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Published: December 1, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE
A Fayetteville teacher whose classroom comments about John McCain drew the ire of viewers who saw the remarks on YouTube says she has received a disciplinary letter.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that Diatha Harris also said that an internal investigation cleared her of violating state law or Cumberland County Board of Education policy.
A Scandinavian documentary crew filmed Harris last May leading a classroom discussion of the 2008 presidential election.
In the video, Harris tries to generate a class conversation about the presidential election by asking students whom they support. She says that supporting either candidate is fine. When one student says that Obama advocates ending the Iraq war, Harris asks students what they know about the conflict, then calls it "a senseless war."
Another girl says she backs McCain because that's who her parents favor. Harris points out that the girl's father is in the military and cautions, "The person that you're picking for president said that our troops could stay in Iraq for another hundred years if they need to. So that means that your daddy could stay in the military for another hundred years."
The camera returns to the girl's face to catch her reaction. She seems to tense her mouth, but doesn't otherwise respond.
The video aired in a documentary on Finnish television in November, and parts of it were posted on YouTube. Bill Harrison, the Cumberland County school superintendent, was deluged with calls for Harris to be fired.
Harris downplayed the significance of the written reprimand from Harrison. She has not made the letter public, and she remains a teacher at the school. "But I do want it out there that I did not break any board policy," she said. "I did not break any laws."
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