Jonathan Koeppel taught Spanish for the St. Tammany Parish public school system until August 13, when he was fired, a termination that came after the outspoken teacher described his a one-man battle to the national media and to St. Tammany school board members over several months.
The Daily Caller reported on Koeppel’s appearance in April in front of the school board, where the frustrated teacher shared a controversial lesson plan in which students are instructed to use the word “they” for their classmates if they are unsure of their preferred gender pronoun.
“When I saw this was happening,” Koeppel told the Caller, “I realized that kids in my area were being exposed this. I said, You know what, I am not going to be quiet about it. I am going to make a very firm stance.”
Following his firing two weeks ago, Koeppel tells American Family News he first angered school officials when he refused to wear a mask. Koeppel says he broke his nose as a teenager and, as a result, he cannot breathe well wearing a mask. As a result, Koeppel says the high school gave him a medical exemption until the school principal pulled him aside and sent him home for no mask. A hearing was scheduled to evaluate his employment.
It was during that process that Koeppel says the school district changed the reason for punishing him.
"They started pointing to my social media, the things I've been doing in public," alleges the teacher, who has shared his story at CPAC and in front of TV news cameras. "I think it's political. I think there's some free speech violations, and there's definitely some medical discrimination among other things. So I'm definitely taking legal action."
According to Koeppel, who says he worked "really hard" to keep politics out of the classroom, liberal teachers are promoting Black Lives Matter, communism, Marxism, and socialism.
"They can promote their political views, and they can coerce kids into getting vaccines or shame kids that don't get vaccines," says Koeppel.
AFN contacted St. Tammany Parish Public Schools for comment and was told the district does not comment on “personal matters."
