Jersey City Teacher Is Suspended After Profanity-Laced Tirade During Online Class

Photo Credit: NBC News.com

Howard Zlotkin, a science teacher with twenty years of experience at Dickinson High School in Jersey City, has been suspended after going on two, profanity-laced tirades aimed at African-American students during a Zoom class he was teaching online concerning climate change.

NBC News New York was first to report the incident.  17-year old senior Timmia Williams told the TV station the rant was aimed at her and three, fellow black students in the class.

In the Zoom video you hear Zlotkin during his tirade saying, “I hear people whining and crying about Black Lives Matter, but George Floyd was a f—— criminal and he got arrested and he got killed because he wouldn’t comply and the bottom line is we make him a f—— hero.  I don’t think you can make a case. You know what Timmia? You’re full of s–t too.”  The teacher also raises both hands at one point and gives the students “the finger.”

Williams told NBC that she and the three other black students were ordered to write an essay.

According to Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Franklin Walker, the incident is being investigated by the school district and police were notified because the situation may be considered a hate crime.

Students have been offered counseling by the district in order to discuss their feelings over what they heard.

Zlotkin, who is being paid during his suspension, has also been suspended from his position as an adjunct professor at Hudson County Community College.