N.J. teacher has been fired for having students write get well cards to Mumia Abu-Jamal

The support for Marilyn Zuniga  from other educators across the nation and students wasn’t enough.

The Orange School board voted Wednesday to terminate the employment of the third-grade teacher for allowing her students to write “get well” letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal , reports N.J.com.

After the decision to terminate Marylin Zuniga’s employment, supporters called for her reinstatement in public comments to the board. Within minutes the board unanimously approved a personnel agenda and abruptly adjourned the meeting without discussing or explaining what was just voted on.

There was much confusion but in an email sent to NJ.com, Orange superintendent has confirmed Marilyn Zuniga has been terminated.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Zuniga’s attorney, Alan Levine, said that by firing her, school officials “abdicated their responsibility to the community and to the children of the school district.”

“They lost a teacher that everybody agreed was a remarkable teacher,” Levine said. “There isn’t a school district around that wouldn’t be happy to have Marylin Zuniga teach in it.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal is serving a life sentence for the killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. He has been suffering from complications related to diabetes.

Zungia’s students wrote get-well letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal which didn’t sit well with school officials and parents. Schools officials claim the teacher did not ask permission for the students to send the get well letters.

Zuniga is now considering legal action to challenge her termination, which could take the form of an arbitration proceeding or a lawsuit, according to Levine.