Teacher accused of racism starts hearing

FAIRFIELD The teacher accused of making a racist remark to students said school officials are trying to bring his career to an end.

Suspended Fairfield school teacher Gil Voigt told The Enquirer exclusively this morning as he walked into the labor arbitration hearing at Fairfield Schools central office that school officials have "taken away my career and my life."

Voigt is alleged to have told an African American student at Fairfield Freshmen School, who had professed his desire to follow President Barack Obama as president, "We do not need another black president."

Voigt, who declined Monday to comment further, has previously said he was misquoted by the student, whom he described as troublesome.

The closed employment hearing with a labor referee may last days, said school officials.

The veteran teacher's suspension has drawn national attention and the condemnation of officials in the Butler County school system as well as area NAACP officials.

He later told Fairfield officials that what he said to the teen was, "I think we can't afford another president like Obama, whether he's black or white."

The 14-year veteran teacher of the Butler County district wrote a December statement to Fairfield officials that "there was no way I was trying to indicate the color of (Obama's) skin had anything to do with his politics."

The Fairfield collective bargaining agreement with its teachers allows for gradations of punishments if a teacher is found to be in violation of the Ohio Department of Education's licensure code of professional conduct or its own district policy addressing how teachers should interact with students.

The Fairfield labor contract has provisions similar to other public school contracts, largely mirroring the state education department's professional conduct code and the Ohio Revised Code for termination of a teacher's job. According to the state's professional code, a teacher "shall maintain a professional relationship with all students at all times both in and out of the classroom." Unacceptable conduct includes "using inappropriate language, gestures or signs at any school-related activity such as racial slurs, biased, lewd or lascivious expressions."

Fairfield's labor contract requires punishments ranging from verbal and written warnings to one- to three-day suspensions of teachers without pay for offenses.

But the contract also provides options for pursuing more severe punishments, which is what Fairfield district administrators have initiated in Voigt's case at the order of the Fairfield Board of Education last month.

The Ohio Department of Education will conduct its own investigation after being notified of Voigt's employment status.

If Voigt is fired based on the referee's ruling, which must be made within 10 days of the hearing's close, ODE's investigation will determine whether Voigt should have his teaching license limited, suspended – from one day to up to five years – or revoked entirely, prohibiting him from teaching in Ohio.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, if the incident does not warrant termination "the charges and the record of the hearing shall be physically expunged from the minutes, and, if the teacher has suffered any loss of salary by reason of being suspended, the teacher shall be paid the teacher's full salary for the period of such suspension."

Voigt will also have the option, should he be fired, of appealing the referee's decision to Butler County Common Pleas Court within 30 days.