English teacher could lose her job over Ferguson tweet

DUNCANVILLE, Texas, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- An English teacher at a Texas high school has been suspended without pay for profanity-filled tweets that referred to white people as "crackers."

Vinita Hedgwood, who is in her second year as a teacher at Duncanville High School near Dallas is likely to be fired.

Lori Badger, a spokeswoman for the Duncanville school district, said school officials met with Hedgwood Monday morning and then placed her on leave. The offensive tweet was posted Friday and quickly spread through social media.

The tweets were in a discussion of the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Mo. Hedgwood was apparently responding to comments about earlier tweets.

In one tweet she asks why the "crackers" think she "gives a squat" about their opinions and then says "Kill yourselves." In the second, she says "You acting crackerish, I'm a call you a cracker."

Hedgwood appears to be an enthusiastic teacher. She maintained a website for her students, EnglishAndElephants.com.

One father, Jason Kile, suggested Hedgwood was in trouble for a comment that was taken out of context. He said one of his daughters was in Hedgwood's class last year, and he specifically asked that another daughter be placed in her class this year.

Badger said Hedgwood could be fired on Dec. 8, when the district board of trustees holds its next meeting.