By Leticia Chavez-Garcia

If you are outraged by the words and actions of Gregory Salcido (the Pico Rivera councilman who is also a teacher at El Rancho High School), you have every right to be. But I have some bad news for you about Mr. Salcido. He is not an anomaly. In fact, most people would be shocked and disgusted by some of the vile things that teachers tell our kids, not to mention how outraged they would be at the behaviors of some teachers as well. Many teachers treat your children with an unparalleled level of disrespect. I have seen it.In the case of Salcido, he is a high school teacher who was taped making negative statements to a student in reference to a US Marines sweatshirt that the student was wearing. So far, about 1.5 million people have viewed the viral video, which El Rancho Unified School District has confirmed as being the voice of Gregory Salcido and is conducting an investigation.  He doesn’t seem to concerned about the consequences, considering his reaction posted to his social media accounts:

Salcido has since been identified as having a long record of inappropriate classroom behavior dating back to 2010 when he reportedly struck a student, yet he has continued to be allowed to be a mentor to kids! Why? Because he is protected by the teacher’s union. But who protects your children? What union comes to their defense? I think it’s criminal that teachers unions protect these predators and force the districts to keep them employed and paid with your tax dollars.

My understanding is that currently Salcido is on “administrative leave” which is code for “he is vacationing on your tax dollars” while the investigation is going on.

This is one of the most vile aspects of the protections afforded to teachers for their $50 a month!  It’s time to implement a ZERO TOLERANCE policy against teachers who violate the rights of their students by harassing, threatening, molesting, screaming, belittling, or demoralizing them. When will our legislators write a bill nullifying teacher protections when they are found to have done one of these things? Who is going to be brave enough to stand up for the students!?  #themtoo

This piece first ran here at La Comadre.

Leticia Chavez-Garcia is a Mother, Grandmother, former Middle School Teacher, former Member of a School Board of Education and an Education Advocate for hundreds of parents and students in the Inland Empire. Having become a mother at 15, Leticia knows what it’s like to be a single mother trying to navigate the education system. Leticia received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from California Baptist University and a Masters’ Degree in Education Technology from Cal State Fullerton in her 30’s. Leticia has used her knowledge and experience to help hundreds of families as an Education Advocate in the Inland Empire and currently works as an Education Specialist.