Updated: Tuesday, 6:50 a.m. --- WDIV reports that the state's Education Achievement Authority, which oversees the operation of Pershing High School, is restating fired teacher TIffany Eaton who used a broom to hit a student in an attempt to break up a fight in the classroom. The station reports that she will get retroactive pay, as well.
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Monday, 11:58 a.m.
Things are suddenly looking very different for Pershing High School teacher Tiffany Eaton who was recently fired for hitting a student with a broom to break up a fight.
Fox 2's Maurielle Lue reports that the teacher's principal is coming to her defense and says she should have never been fired from the Detroit high school. He's asking the state's Education Achievement Authority, which oversees the school, to reverse its decision to terminate her.
In an open letter to "the education community" that's posted on Fox 2's website, Principal Gregory King writes:
I feel I have a duty to clarify a few important facts that have been distorted in the public record. First, Ms. Eaton should never have been fired. Period.
I am asking EAA administration to reverse path. Our teachers at Pershing high and at all other schools are called upon to do the impossible every day: counselor, security guard, teacher, and more. They are asked to do so without adequate resources to guarantee even basic bodily safety.
Media reports have falsely alleged that I recommended Ms. Eaton's termination. That is not true. EAA central administration has had an opportunity to report the truth and correct the misinformation. They have not done so.
He added that he saw no indication of corporal punishment.
Meanwhile, Eaton told Fox 2 .that "I don't regret my actions. I know what I did was virtuous."
She said she called for help from security on a school-issued walkie talkie, but only heard silence in return.
She said she was concerned that a student might get seriously injured or possibly even killed.
She said her instincts as a mother didn't allow her to leave the room. And she said other nearby teachers were trying to keep their students from getting involved.
So she concluded, everyone was in a place where they should have been except for security, and she did what she thought was best under the chaotic circumstances.
The student who started the fight has told the media that he doesn't think he should be blamed for the teacher's firing.
He also had said she was his favorite teacher.
But Eaton was had something to say about that in the Fox 2 interview.
"I've known him all of three weeks prior to the event and not consistently," she said, indicating that he didn't always show up to class. -- Allan Lengel
