Teacher who told students to ‘speak American’ is back

A New Jersey teacher who sparked protests after telling students to “speak American” has returned to the classroom and delivered an apology, according to a report.

English teacher Laura Amico, whose comments were captured in a video that went viral, returned to Cliffside Park High School on Tuesday morning, Superintendent Michael Romagnino said.

He said the teacher delivered an apology to staff and students over the public-address system, northjersey.com reported.

“Men and women are fighting. They are not fighting for your right to speak Spanish,” the teacher said in the Oct. 12 video. “They are fighting for your right to speak American.”

After her comments were posted to social media, dozens of students held protests outside the school — many of them skipping class to appear in televised interviews.

On Oct. 16, about 50 students waved flags of their different nationalities and chanted “CP United” and other slogans.

More than three dozen students received Saturday detentions and some said they had been threatened with discipline for participating in the protest, the news outlet reported.

Romagnino said the district followed its normal disciplinary policy for cutting class.

“If a student cuts class, their consequences are based on the disciplinary policy we follow, so they were not treated any differently for what they did than any other student who purposely decides to cut a class,” he said.

Romagnino said he couldn’t comment further about Amico, who has been with the district for about 15 years, because it was a personnel matter.

“With her coming back to school with the apology, we want to put this behind us and focus on educating the students,” he said.