In Louisiana, a middle school English teacher named Deyshia Hargrave was arrested in a now-viral video, after she stood up at a school board meeting and questioned why the superintendent was getting a raise, when the teachers hadn’t gotten a raise in years.
Deyshia Hargrave: “Superintendent, how are you going to take a raise when there’s ELA—when I first started teaching ELA, there was like 20, 21 kids in a class, and now there’s 29 kids in a class that we are now having. And we have not gotten raises. How are you going to take that money? Because it’s basically taking out of the pockets of teachers.”
Anthony Fontana: “All right, stop. Stop right now. That’s not germane to what’s on the agenda tonight.”
Deyshia Hargrave: “Yes, it is!”
Woman: “Come on now!”
Deyshia Hargrave: “How are you going to take”—
Anthony Fontana: “What’s on the agenda is the superintendent’s contract.”
Crowd: “With a raise!”
Deyshia Hargrave: “Is it against policy to stand? Sir, do not touch me.”
After her questioning, the teacher voluntarily left the room and was then forcibly arrested in the hallway by a marshal. Since Monday, the video has been seen by more than 1.5 million people.