Virginia, I admire your forgiving nature, looking for every avenue to give Salcido the benefit of the doubt, but did you read the Wikipedia summary of his past history in his 20 or so years of teaching? I hadn't until just now; I previously only used it to look up how old he is.
Apparently, this recent flap was not the first time he had been suspended on administrative leave.
“Salcido started his teaching career at his alma mater, El Rancho High School, in 1998.[2] Although popular with many of his Hispanic and immigrant students, his tenure as teacher at El Rancho was marred by controversy. On three separate occasions, Salcido has been put on administrative leave.
In 2005, a parent complained about a class discussion about masturbation. Investigators with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department cleared Salcido of any wrongdoing.[5]
In July 2010, Salcido was reprimanded and placed on administrative leave after a parent complained about Salcido's conduct in the classroom.[6] A parent alleged that his Anglo-American 16-year-old daughter had been threatened by Salcido and that Salcido had made inappropriate insulting comments about race, other students and parents.[4] One student complained that Salcido had said, "Shut up, Kelly, before I kill you."[4][6]
In May 2012, Salcido was placed on administrative leave after the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department received a complaint that he had struck a Anglo-American student. Salcido admitted striking the student and said the student had been disruptive by sleeping in class.[7] The child, named David, also alleged that Salcido bullied him in a sexually derisive and dismissive manner based on the boy's weight and appearance, calling him "Chaz Bono". “
Now I ask you, Virginia, what kind of history teacher teaches about masturbation in a coed class of teenagers? Was the topic of the day the history of Dr. John Harvey Kellog's whacked out theories on the subject? Somehow, I don't think that's part of the state history curriculum. I DO think Salcido was probably getting some kind of prurient satisfaction from the discussion.
And what kind of teacher hits a sleeping student and then berates him for his appearance? Or threatens to "kill" them? Or makes racist comments?
And there were further allegations at the City Council meeting of Salcido deriding students for being Christian. Is this a proper role for a teacher?
It seems he was seriously reprimanded by the school district at least twice before this final time this year, and chose not to learn from those reprimands.
Jesus taught that a repentant sinner should be forgiven 70 times seven times, but He was not so patient with unrepentant sinners, e.g., the money changers in the Temple or the scribes and Pharisees, the "whited sepulchers" full of corruption. I think Salcido falls into the unrepentant category.
Furthermore, according to the Wiki article, "In 2012, Salcido was fined by the
California Fair Political Practices Commission for campaign finance violations and fined $2,500," so his political activities seem not to have been squeaky clean either.
So yes, perhaps the school district did not put a stop to his disgraceful activities soon enough, but that does not change my opinion that he is and was a first-class LOUSE, and that's putting it as mildly as I can.
Again, I mean no disrespect to you, Virginia; you are as kind and sweet as anyone I've known. It's just that I find this arrogant SOB insufferable, and I think he got just what he deserved, apart from the anonymous threats.