Mount Vernon Fires Teacher Fired For Slave Auction Demonstration

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A teacher whose private-school lesson on slavery outraged parents and led to her firing was hired, then fired by the Mount Vernon school district.

Rebecca Antinozzi apparently asked African-American students in her class on colonial America at the Chapel School in Bronxville to line up and briefly used them as examples of how Africans were brought to the country and sold at auction. Reaction by parents led to an investigation by New York Attorney General Letita James in March and she was fired.

She was hired this fall by the Mount Vernon school district to teach at Cecil H. Parker Elementary. The news became public Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Kenneth R. Hamilton, Superintendent of Schools, issued this statement:

“The District can now report that Ms. Antonizzi will not be returning to the classroom to teach for the District. Please know that the District has an obligation to ensure that the confidentiality rights of all of our staff members are honored at all times. This sometimes limits the amount of information that can be shared.

“The District will ensure that every child continues to receive a high-quality educational experience. To that end the District has a long-term substitute in place while we recruit candidates for the permanent position. The education of our children is of paramount concern and we are working to maintain the continuity of instruction of our students.”

Chapel School parent Vernex Harding complained in March when her son told her of the incident in his fifth-grade social studies class. She told News12 it made her 10-year-old uncomfortable.

The teacher told News12 the accusation that she held a mock auction was false and that she was responding to a question from a student.

James said, ”the investigation found that the teacher’s reenactments in the two classes had a profoundly negative effect on all of the students present — especially the African-American students — and the school community at large.”