A Pennsylvania teacher lost her job after suggesting on Facebook that Americans who refuse COVID-19 vaccinations for religious reasons should be shot.
The General McLane School District in Erie County confirmed Monday that Mollie Paige Mumau has not been teaching at McLane High School or permitted in school district buildings since Dec. 8, a few days after she suggested in the Facebook post that the Republican Party “take those guns they profess to love so much and just start shooting all of their constituents who think this way.”
“The teacher responsible for the social media post will not be returning in any capacity to the General McLane School District,” the district says in a statement shared with The Washington Times. “We reiterate the degree to which the comments in her post, figurative and literal, were unacceptable and inappropriate, and we will continue to focus on what is best for our students now and in the future.”
Ms. Mumau has also vanished from the website of the National Education Association, where she had served on the board of directors.
The nation’s largest teachers union did not respond on Monday to a request for comment on her removal from what its website calls a “top decision-making body.”
Ms. Mumau describes herself in her Facebook profile as an “educator, wife, union advocate, semi-pro wine drinker, LGBTQ ally, and ’Team Pfizer.’”
In her Facebook post, she also wrote that shooting people “hiding behind religious exemptions” to vaccine mandates “would be quicker and ultimately safer than putting me and my friends and family at risk.”
“He and his ilk deserve whatever comes their way, including losing jobs, getting sick, and perhaps dying from this virus,” Ms. Mumau wrote, referring to a particular individual.
The comments sparked outrage from some parents’ rights and religious freedom advocates as screenshots of her Facebook post circulated on social media.
Corey A. DeAngelis, national research director for the pro-school choice American Federation for Children, said in a Dec. 6 retweet of the Facebook post that “this is a board member of the nation’s largest teachers union.”
The New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights said it had emailed a letter to Rebecca S. Pringle, NEA president, asking her to “terminate Mumau’s membership on the board of directors of the NEA.”
“If she is no longer employed by the school district, then it stands to reason that she cannot serve on the NEA’s board of directors; she has no standing in education,” said Bill Donohue, Catholic League president.
“This is a great victory,” he added.
The McLane School District said in its Dec. 8 statement that it would take “appropriate action” despite not being legally responsible for Ms. Mumau’s social media posts.
“The opinions expressed recently on social media by a teacher do not represent those of the district, nor do we condone that type of language, figurative or literal, in any circumstances,” the district said.
In a separate statement that day, the General McLane School Board of Education said it “fully supports GMSD administration” in removing Ms. Mumau.
“The Board is confident the administration conducted a thorough and complete investigation regarding the teacher responsible for the social media post,” the statement said. “The Board agrees that the comments in her post, figurative and literal, were unacceptable and inappropriate, and we will continue to focus on what is best for our students now and in the future.”
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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