ORLANDO, Fla. – A Central Florida middle school teacher suspended earlier this year, accused by his school district of using students as “political props” in TikTok skits referencing current events, will keep his job.
At an Orange County School Board meeting Tuesday night, the assembly decided after more than an hour of discussion that the punishment originally sought by Superintendent Maria Vasquez against Ethan Hooper, a 6th-grade language arts teacher at Howard Middle School, was too harsh.
“We believe in some of the things you said and we believe that you have a right as a teacher and that we want to retain teachers, and that we must have grace as well,” District 2 Board Member Maria Salamanca said.
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Hooper was placed on leave in February.
At the time, the district’s reaction to Hooper’s videos — in which topics such as book removals in Florida schools and Black History Month were satirized — appeared career-ending in its finality, claiming “swift action will be taken to terminate employment” of the middle school teacher.
Orange County Public Schools will not tolerate the use of our children as political pawns by anyone, including a classroom teacher. Any employee who creates videos or other content with students in an effort to exploit them for political purposes will be immediately removed from the classroom, placed on administrative leave and swift action will be taken to terminate employment.
Statement from Orange County Public Schools
From Vasquez, the rhetoric was much the same.
“I am appalled at the behavior and judgment of the teacher who posted the inappropriate videos using his students as political props,” Vazquez said. “This is not free speech — it is the exploitation of our students for political purposes, and it will not be tolerated in our school district.”
Since Hooper’s suspension, News 6 spoke with Jaida Jackson, one of Hooper’s students.
Jackson told us that she and her classmates came up with the ideas for the videos, adding she would feel responsible if Hooper was ultimately fired.
“We were definitely not forced. We all agreed,” Jackson said.
At the meeting Tuesday, Hooper signaled he would proceed thoughtfully.
“I would like to continue engaging with my students the way that I’ve been doing and if it’s a matter of, you know, doing it better, I’m going to seek ways to do that,” Hooper said.
According to Vasquez, Hooper is being investigated by the state and could still have his teaching license revoked.
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