Teacher calls Muslim student a ‘terrorist’ and resigns after backlash, PA reports say

A middle school teacher accused of calling a Muslim student a “terrorist” has now resigned from her position following public backlash, Pennsylvania reports say.

As calls for action against the unnamed teacher intensified, members of the Central Dauphin School Board announced her resignation during a meeting Monday, Jan. 27, according to WHP and WPMT.

The incident occurred at Central Dauphin Middle School on Jan. 16 when a Palestinian-Lebanese-American seventh-grade student asked to change his seats.

“I do not negotiate with terrorists,” the teacher said while denying the student’s request, according to the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The teacher was placed on administrative leave after the remark came to light, WHTM reported. A district spokesperson told the station the matter was being investigated internally.

Adam Rahman, the student’s father, said the teacher admitted to making the comment, according to WGAL.

“The problem is if you have an opinion and you’re racist, just keep it to yourself,” Rahman said, WGAL reported. “But to embellish on it and to loosely say it in front of the class, there’s a major problem.”

Dozens of people attended Monday’s school board meeting to speak on the matter and urge the district to handle the situation more swiftly, according to PennLive.com.

Before they were able to speak, board president Michael Jacobs said the teacher in question had resigned, according to WHP.

“Central Dauphin School District has a ‘Zero-tolerance’ for hateful speech,” the district said in a statement to the news outlet, adding that the resignation was approved. “This district, this board, and this administration are all proud of the diversity of our schools, and we strive to provide an inclusive environment. Any incident of this nature goes against staff policies and the values that our district is built upon.”

Rahman told WGAL the family plans to take legal action against the school and press charges against the teacher. He said the teacher’s comment made the 12-year-old feel “belittled (and) marginalized.”

CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director Ahmet Tekelioglu said in a statement “racist language” will not be tolerated.

“(Central Dauphin) can take this seriously and take meaningful, concrete steps to offer inclusion and equity training to its staff, to make sure that the curriculum is reflected, and that humanization of the Palestinian Americans, Muslim Americans take place,” he told WPMT.

In a statement to WHTM before the teacher’s resignation, a district spokesperson said the incident “goes against staff policies and the values that our district is built upon.”

“Central Dauphin School District has zero tolerance for hateful and racist speech,” the spokesperson said.

Central Dauphin Middle School is in Harrisburg, about a 105-mile drive northwest from Philadelphia.

This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Teacher calls Muslim student a ‘terrorist’ and resigns after backlash, PA reports say."