Teacher Suspension in Montco Stirring Controversy

The suspension of a teacher in the Cheltenham School District who allegedly made racially insensitive comments has sparked controversy and backlash from some locals who support her.

Racial furor was stirred in November when Stacie Stoops, the teacher in question, told students to "stop bitching about being black," according to parents in the school district. One student left the room in tears. Stoops was suspended.

Beck argued that Stoops did nothing wrong.

"Your suspension last November of a white CHS high school teacher - Ms. Stacie Stoops - for saying the same thing that President Obama said about blacks who whine about being black, shows you do not embrace all ideologies - only your own biased ones," David Beck, a 1973 graduate of Cheltenham High School and Cheltenham resident wrote in a letter to the school board on Tuesday.

Beck went on to vilify the school's African American Alliance. The organization states online that it seeks to "promote active engagement and close the access gap to resources, programs, and the many opportunities offered by the district" for African diaspora students.

"I hate hypocrites, especially racist ones," Beck said. "Had white students started a White Only Educational Improvement Alliance, Julie Haywood (former member of the Steering Committee of the African American Alliance) and the rest of the Democrat-only Board members would be crying to the ACLU, NAACP, UNCF etc."

The principal of Cheltenham High School, Raymond McFall, is a supporter of the group condemned by Beck.

"As Principal, I am proud to work closely with the Cheltenham African American Alliance," he writes on the district's website. It's one of several organizations he lists as key to supporting the school's "excellent educational and extracurricular experiences."

Patch has reached out to the Cheltenham School District for further comment on this situation.

Image via Commons courtesy Peter Brown.