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

Marilyn Zuniga has been fired. The support 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. The board approved the personnel agenda within minutes and abruptly adjourned without discussing or explaining the vote.

Confusion followed, but the Orange superintendent confirmed in an email to NJ.com that the district terminated Marilyn Zuniga.

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. This could arbitration proceeding or a lawsuit, according to Levine.