A Florida sixth-grade teacher is under fire after posting TikTok videos of white students bowing to their black peers and of himself mocking the state’s “Stop Woke Act,” which bars Critical Race Theory and other discriminatory lessons in public schools.
Ethan Hooper, a teacher at Howard Middle School in Orlando, was slammed by parents and critics who accused him of using children as political props. In addition, Orange County Public Schools, his employer, issued a statement condemning the videos.
“I’m about to run up on these kids and start banning books right away,” Hooper states in the video, subtitled “problematic books,” before seizing a book from a boy and yelling, “Hey, hey, hey, what’cha all reading? You reading Harry Potter? Oh, witchcraft? Gotta go. Gotta go.”
He then grabs a book titled “Crossover,” yelling, “A black boy? No. Absolutely not.”
Next he grabs a book titled, “The Hate You Give,” snapping, “I’m gonna give you something to hate. This book’s gone.”
Reaction to the TikTok videos was swift and angry.
“If one of the teachers was using my kid for political gain, that would upset me,” one father said. “What if I don’t believe in that, and, you know, that’s not what I’m teaching my kid?”
“He needs to lose his job now,” another critic declared. “He can take his issues to adults in the system. Instead, he used children he’s supposed to be caring for on a personal social media account,” one critic of the video said, while another critic chimed in, “What is a teacher doing on social media during school hours, much less posting his students’identities?”
“Orange County Public Schools will not tolerate the use of our children as political pawns by anyone, including a classroom teacher,” the Orange County Public Schools said in a statement. “Any employee of 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.”
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Vazquez said the videos crossed the line.
“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.”
A spokesperson for the school district suggested Hooper would be disciplined, and local reports confirmed he was put on administrative leave.
“Any employee of 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,” Orange County Public Schools’ Media Manager Michael Ollendorf stated.
WATCH:
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