Minneapolis Teacher On Leave After Saying Slur Student Wrote On Desk

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis teacher is on leave after district officials say they used a racial slur last week while reading what students had written on school property.

According to a district spokesperson, students at Northeast Middle School reported Tuesday that a teacher used a racial slur in class. The incident happened after a group of eighth graders defaced school property with a slur and the teacher read the slur out loud while reading students' text about the vandalism.

"Sharing that use of the word was unacceptable," the spokesperson said. "The teacher is on leave." No other information was released by the district.

The teacher's uttering of the slur prompted a walkout Friday. Online video of the walkout showed students marching in the street, chanting slogans such as "no justice, no peace."

Students are calling for the teacher to be fired. In a Change.org petition, someone who reportedly heard the slur said that they felt the feelings of Black students were invalidated by the teacher and the principal, who allegedly called what happened a "learning moment."

The petition has more than 900 signatures.