A teacher in Orange County, California is in the hot seat for removing the American flag from her classroom and instead suggesting that her students pledge allegiance to the Pride flag.
Now Newport Mesa School District is investigating the teacher, identified as Kristin Pitzen, after she shared a TikTok video where she said students have options when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during her English class, Fox 8 reports.
“Okay, so during third period, we have announcements and they do the Pledge of Allegiance,” Pitzen said. “I always tell my class, stand if you feel like it, don’t stand if you feel like it, say the words if you want, you don’t have to say the words.”
She also explained that during COVID, she put away her American flag because it made her “uncomfortable” and she hasn’t found it to put it back up.
At some point, one of the students pointed out to Pitzen that there was no flag in the classroom. “I tell this kid, ‘We do have a flag in the class that you can pledge your allegiance to.’ And he like, looks around and goes, ‘Oh, that one?’ and points to the Pride flag,” Pitzen said in the video.
This didn’t sit well with the district, with TMZ reporting parents were getting upset—slightly unsurprising since Orange County is more conservative in comparison to Los Angeles.
The Newport Mesa School District issued a statement to Fox saying, “We are aware of this incident and are investigating. While we do not discuss employee-related matters, we can tell you that showing respect and honor for our nation’s flag is a value that we instill in our students and an expectation of our employees. We take matters like this seriously and will be taking action to address it.”
