A mom is demanding that a Pennsylvania school fire a teacher who made disparaging comments about her daughter with special needs. Holly Miller obtained public records where the teacher, Amy Kosko, described dealing with her daughter as a lot like appeasing Adolph Hitler, the man who spearheaded a genocide. Kosko has since apologized for the remark.
ABC reports that Amy Kosko made the comments in an email in 2014 in response to a follow-up about the student's educational plan. Holly Miller's daughter with special needs was enrolled at the Tenth Street Elementary School at that time and the principal, Jon Pollard, was asking the teachers to ensure that they accommodate the girl and support her learning, per Daily Mail.
The types of support included constant email correspondence with the girl's mom, regular homework and creating a weekly planner. But Amy Kosko apparently replied to the email with indignation. "It would be nice if we spent this much extra time on the regular Ed and gifted students," she wrote and then called the special needs child "ignorant and insolent."
"So we are continuing to follow the policy of appeasement," the teacher added in the email. "Look how that worked out with Hitler." The correspondence was secured by the child's mom for an ongoing dispute with the school district.
Holly Miller posted the email on social media and called out Kosko for being a bully. "I'll never understand why you did it. Why you insulted, bullied, threatened, or said no disabled child deserves help," the mom wrote on Facebook in part. "Showing them that being a bully is ok is not what a teacher should be teaching."
On Monday, May 16, Amy Kosko was forced to write an apology to the Millers. "I truly regret what I wrote in that moment of frustration," she said via Citizen's Voice. She also reiterated that she has always been assigned to students with learning disabilities because of her commitment. Kosko has been a teacher with the school district for over 13 years.
However, Holly Miller believes that the apology is late and that Kosko should be fired from her job. The school board expressed that it does not condone what the teacher wrote in the emails. "We are going to make sure that where consequences are warranted, consequences will take place and they have." The board did not specify what these consequences are.
Meanwhile, Holly Miller's daughter with special needs now attends the Wyoming Area Secondary Center as a seventh grader. However, the single mother has opted to switch letting her daughter have sessions with a school teacher at home due to panic attacks.
Do you think the mom is right to demand that the teacher be fired? What's your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!
