Texas teacher fired for voicing opposition to illegal immigrant students wins appeal

Georgia Clark, the Forth Worth, Texas, high school English teacher who was fired earlier this year for tweeting at President Donald Trump to remove illegal immigrants from her school has won an appeal.

In June, the Fort Worth Independent School District unanimously voted to terminate Clark "for good cause." Days earlier, she was suspended for tweeting at the president and asking him to remove "illegal students" that she claimed were overwhelming her school.

But this week, the Texas Education Agency ruled against Fort Worth ISD.

From the New York Times:

The state found that the teacher, Georgia Clark, should be reinstated and get back pay and employment benefits, or instead of being allowed to return to her job, she could receive one year's salary from the date she would have been reinstated, according to its ruling.

"The day the petitioner would have been reinstated is the day respondent tenders petitioner payment in full," the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath, wrote in the ruling.

The TEA's ruling said that Clark "has been evaluated as an excellent teacher consistently throughout her employment" and that her tweets constituted an expression of free speech.

"Clark's tweets are statements of a citizen on a matter of public concern protected by the United States Constitution and do not contravene or impair policies or proper performance of the district's functions," the agency determined.

According to the Times, Forth Worth ISD said it would appeal the state's decision, saying in a statement they believed the judgement they handed out in June was appropriate.

"We stand by our decision because we firmly believe this is in the best interests of all students," superintendent Kent Scribner said in a statement.