Teacher appearing to promote pedophilia in viral video 1 step closer to termination

A school board approved to move forward in terminating a teacher at a Texas high school whose lesson went viral last month.

The El Paso Independent School Board of Trustees approved to have Superintendent Diana Sayavedra discuss terminating Amber Parker's employment contract with Franklin High School.

Tuesday's action comes after Parker's lesson was recorded by a student in the classroom and then investigated by the school district.

Parker was recorded saying, "Stop calling them [pedophiles] that. You're not allowed to label people like that. Stop it, Diego. We are not going to call them that. We're going to call them, MAPs. Minor Attracted Persons. So don't judge people just because they want to have sex with a 5-year-old."

A student in the English class when the recording occurred believed Parker's words were taken out of context.

"She [teacher] was expressing how it was ridiculous how we [society] might not be able to call people pedophiles. That we [society] will probably have to start calling them MAPs because it can be offensive to them [pedophiles]. The class agreed," Ryann Ruvalcaba, a junior at Franklin High School said.

Ruvalcaba explained the discussion was an exercise before the class began reading "The Crucible."

The unanimous vote approved Sayavedra to notify Parker of the proposed termination and the end of her contract for the 2022-23 school year.

I think it's a good thing that the school board is taking action," a woman who wished to remain anonymous told KFOX.

"I think it's pretty inappropriate for teachers to be talking about something like that," said an unidentified man. “I think something needed to be done."

"This is the beginning of a process, and we’re going to move forward with it, and we await to see the outcome of the process," said Al Velarde, the El Paso ISD board president. "The investigation has been completed, but there is a process defined by TEA that we must follow when it comes to a termination of an employee."

The teacher has the ability to appeal the decision.

"The process is just beginning. There are going to be hearings and so forth that become available to the teacher, and so we just await the process," said Velarde.