Florida Teacher Fired for Allegedly Disrupting Muslim Students in Prayer, Accusing Them of 'Magic'

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Getty

A teacher in Florida has been fired after a viral TikTok video allegedly showed her disrupting Muslim students during prayer.

Franklin Academy Charter School, which has five locations in southern Florida, announced in a statement on Thursday that school leadership was aware of the “very troubling TikTok video” and that they “do not tolerate discriminatory behavior in any form.”

“While we do not discuss personnel matters, we can share that the teacher in question is no longer a member of the Franklin Academy staff,” school officials added in the statement.

Noise from a bustling hallway can be heard as a door opens and the faceless teacher enters what appears to be her office. “Hold on,this my office and y’all doing all this magic,” she can be heard yelling at the group.

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She then continues to shout and blow a whistle at the students before her legs can be seen walking through them, nearly stepping on one student’s hand.

“I believe in Jesus, so I’m interrupting the floor,” she says before asking someone off-camera: “And why are they in my office? Who told them to come in here?”

A rep for the school did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on whether the students had permission to pray in that office or if the school has available space for worship.

The student who posted the video wrote in the caption: “I literally don’t even believe what happened to me is real. I’m still shook.”

Franklin Academy Charter School would not identify the teacher, and in another post, they noted that another staff member has been “MISTAKENLY and FALSELY identified” and is “receiving threats from strangers,” asking their followers to dispel those rumors.

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida), applauded the school’s response in a statement on Friday.

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“It is of utmost importance that school administrators and staffknow basic faith practices to serve studentspracticing their faith, in this case, Muslims,” the statement read. “We will protect our children. We welcome the prompt response from the school administration.”

source: people.com