(The Center Square) – Cobb County School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said teachers should never be the “cheerleaders” for a school shooter as he addressed the suspension of some educators over their comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder.
The school system said Monday it had placed some teachers on administrative leave over their comments but did not specify how many. Ragsdale said two teachers were no longer employed with Cobb County schools but did not say if they were fired or if they resigned.
Ragsdale called Kirk’s murder on Sept. 10 on the Utah Valley University campus a “school shooting.” Some educators “intentionally and publicly celebrated and condoned his murder on social media,” he said.
“This drew the anger and amazement of Cobb parents, educators and community members wondering how educators could literally celebrate a school shooter murdering an innocent person on campus simply because they disagreed with his political and or religious beliefs,” Ragsdale said. “They wondered if they and their children are safe in Cobb classrooms. The answer is an emphatic ‘Yes.'”
Ragsdale said this is not how the majority of Cobb employees feel. The is one of “good versus evil,” he said.
“This is not about backing teachers or personal or political beliefs as some have suggested,” Ragsdale said. “A significant number of the complaints about this came from Cobb County teachers.”
The school district said Monday it will report findings to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, which is the ethics board for Georgia educators, “requesting appropriate action against their Georgia teaching license.”
The district is the second largest in Georgia and the 21st largest in the nation, according to its website. More than 105,000 children attend the district’s 112 schools.
