Ohio teacher loses job for racist comment

FAIRFIELD, Ohio — A suburban Cincinnati teacher, accused of making a racist remark to a black student, lost his job after a labor hearing.

Gil Voigt, a Fairfield Freshman School science teacher since 2000, has been on unpaid leave since December when he told a student who had professed his desire to follow in the footsteps of President Barack Obama that "we do not need another black president."

"There is good and just cause to terminate the teaching contract," a state referee said Thursday in a letter to the Fairfield Board of Education. The board voted 4-0 with one board member absent to end his employment with the Butler County school system.

Voigt declined to comment but previously said the student, whom he has described as troublesome, misquoted him in the Dec. 3 incident.

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."

A previous review of Voigt's personnel file showed that in 2008 he was accused of calling a student an "African-American Rudolph" while aiming a laser pointer at the pupil, in 2013 he received a verbal warning after being accused of calling one student "stupid" and others "gay," and in December he was warned for failing to use the adopted curriculum.

Fairfield Superintendent Paul Otten also recommended Thursday that the board discontinue the veteran teacher's employment contract.

"The district felt that the evidence was sufficient to support the termination of Mr. Voigt's employment. The referee recommended such termination, and the board has concurred," Otten said in a statement.

Fairfield City School District, north of Cincinnati, has about 9,500 students; almost 1 in 6 is black.

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

The department'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.

Voigt has the option of appealing the referee's decision to Butler County Common Pleas Court within 30 days.