Franklin teacher said students were stupid, acted ‘like monkeys’

FRANKLIN (Somerset) – A state appellate court has upheld the firing of a tenured special-education teacher for inappropriate conduct, including using profanity in the classroom, assaulting a student and telling her students, who were predominantly black, that they were “acting like monkeys” and “stupid.”

In its decision Wednesday, the court upheld the March 11, 2013, ruling of the state commissioner of education that the school district’s termination of Courtney Watson, a fifth-grade teacher at Sampson G. Smith School, was justified.

Watson, who had worked in the school district since 2004, was fired because of her behavior during the 2011-2012 school year. The court rejected Watson’s arguments that the commissioner’s decision was arbitrary and not supported by the facts and that termination was an “inappropriately severe sanction.”

In a hearing before an administrative law judge after the district brought the tenure charges, Watson admitted that she told her students that they were “stupid” and acting “like monkeys” but said she did not believe those statements would be perceived as offensive, according to court papers.

Watson also admitted that she told another staff member that she was going “to flatten” one of her students, but she discounted it because the remark was not made in front of a student.

Watson also admitted that she used profanity in the classroom, according to court papers, but said she did not do it on a daily basis.

The administrative law judge also found that Watson grabbed a student’s shirt and forcefully put him into his seat.

The state appellate court ruled that the administrative law judge’s conclusion was “sufficiently supported by substantial credible evidence.”

“A teacher is charged with guiding students and must exemplify self-control,” the appellate court wrote. “(Watson’s) behavior is just the opposite.”

Watson’s admission that she called the special-education students “stupid” “epitomizes the epitome of unacceptable name-calling by a professional whose standards of conduct demands much more,” the appellate court wrote.

“Her conduct manifests behavior that specifically undermines the public’s trust and confidence in her as a teacher,” the court wrote.

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com