Dive Brief:

• Dallas-area English teacher Vinita Hegwood was fired unanimously by the Duncanville Independent School District board of trustees over racially-charged tweets she had posted about the death of Michael Brown, a black teen in Ferguson, MO.  
• While the expletive-heavy tweet has since been removed, it reportedly said that white people who disagree with her views should kill themselves.  
• While the board voted to fire Hegwood on Friday, she released an apology statement the previous day in which she also made public her own resignation. Since the board had not seen or signed her resignation letter, it would appear that, according to school rules, she was fired.

Dive Insight:

Through the Texas American Federation of Teachers Union, Hegwood released the following statement on Thursday: 

“I wish to express my regret regarding the controversy over comments that I made on social media on Friday, November 7. I am deeply sorry for the offensive and unprofessional comments that I made on my personal Twitter account. In making those remarks, I was reacting to a series of threatening and racist attacks against me by strangers who disagreed with my expressed opinions on Ferguson, Missouri.I allowed myself to respond emotionally and impulsively. My reaction in no way reflects the standards to which I have held myself and my students for the last twenty years of teaching. I accept full responsibility for my actions, and I regret the embarrassment that it has caused the school district. I believe that it is in the best interests of the district that I resign my position at Duncanville ISD effective immediately.”