‘I’M LOSING MY JOB ANYWAY’

Illinois Teacher Fired After Being Filmed Calling High Schooler a Racial Slur

John Donovan was initially placed on paid leave pending an investigation into what Kankakee school officials characterized as a “minor conflict.”

A teacher at an Illinois high school was fired on Monday after he was recorded calling a student a racial slur in class last week, according to CBS Chicago. John Donovan, a math teacher who began teaching at Kankakee High School in August, was terminated in a unanimous vote by the district’s board of education following an investigation into the Thursday morning incident. A video of the racist outburst, which ignited outrage across social media, shows Donovan using the N-word in reference to a male student exiting the classroom. As other students in the class gasp and laugh, Donovan shrugs and adds, “I’m losing my job anyway.” The district superintendent, Dr. Genevra Walters, told the Kankakee Daily Journal on Thursday that Donovan and the student had been discussing an unspecified prior incident when the situation escalated. The other students’ reaction, she added, was likely a fear response. “They were in shock, and it was nervous laughter,” she said. “It was not like they thought it was funny.”