Paterson teacher caught on video using racial slur, threatening student

PATERSON — A teacher at International High School resigned Friday after education officials launched an investigation into a classroom outburst during which she used a racial epithet while apparently threatening a student.

But the teacher asserted that she was simply reacting to intimidation from a disrespectful student who she said has a long track record of causing trouble during her homeroom period.

“He threatened me. He threatened to have his friends come after me,” said the teacher, Georgiana Jackson, in an interview with Paterson Press after initial news reports about the incident were published. “I don’t know whether he has any gang affiliation. But when he threatened me, I lost it.”

The incident, which officials said happened on Friday morning, was captured in a video recorded by someone in the classroom. A city school official provided a copy of the video, which has been posted to social media accounts, to Paterson Press on Monday.

The video starts in the middle of what appears to be a dispute between the student and the teacher. The video shows the teacher screaming at the student, saying that she would get someone to “cap your ass,” a street phrase for shooting someone.

“I’ll call my n---ers,” yelled the teacher, who is African-American, using a racial epithet. “I got n---ers, too.”

The teacher also called the student a “dumba--.”

After her initial outburst, the teacher said, “I need five minutes to calm down.”

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In response to a media inquiry, school district spokeswoman Terry Corallo issued the following statement: “We are aware of the incident and the district conducted an immediate investigation. As a result, this teacher resigned on Friday, December 8th.”

Jackson said she felt she was unfairly portrayed in news stories about the incident. “It makes it seem like I’m some crazy teacher,” she said. “Let me tell you, I work my butt off in that school. I always did my job. Ask anybody in that building.”

Friday’s incident started when the student entered homeroom still wearing a hood from a sweatshirt over his head, in violation of district dress code, Jackson said. Then he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, she added. The teacher said she directed the boy to comply with the rules.

Jackson said the student, a sophomore, threatened her three times on Friday morning before the classroom recording that was posted on social media. “These students feel they have a right to completely disrespect authority, disrespect the rules and disrespect whatever we do,” she said. “This has to stop.”

Jackson said she regretted her outburst against the student, but added, “I will not take disrespect from him.”

Jackson, who lives in Essex County, started work in the district in January 2015 and was making $58,000 this year. Jackson said she previously taught for two years in South Korea, where she said her students showed greater appreciation for education and their teachers.

The president of the Paterson teachers’ union, John McEntee Jr., declined to comment on the case.

Board of Education member Emanuel Capers said he was glad district officials had taken what he called a “proactive approach” to the incident.

“No student in our district should be treated like that by a staff member,” said Capers. “That’s not what we represent. All of our students should be treated in a professional way.”

Capers said the district ought to provide employees with additional training in how to deescalate confrontations.

Board of Education President Chris Irving indicated he was not pleased with Capers’ decision to post the video on social media over the weekend. “The posting of the video is a personal [sic] matter as well as how the board will address the posting with Comm. Capers,” Irving said in a written statement.

The incident happened at a school that Paterson education officials are trying to transform into an academic model. The district several years ago launched the prestigious International Baccalaureate program at International High School.

But Friday’s incident does not appear to involve a class that is part of that program. The district’s payroll lists Jackson as a special education teacher.

Jackson said she taught science, including chemistry, at the school. She said the student in the incident was not in any of her regular classes but only in her homeroom period.

“I want to be clear,” she said. “I love teaching. I really do. But I will not put up with that behavior.”

“This could cost me my career,” she added.