Teachers who opened racist WhatsApp group decide to leave school

The school had initially decided to keep them on and review them ahead of the next academic year.

An empty classroom in Israel (Illustrative) (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
An empty classroom in Israel (Illustrative)
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Three teachers who were involved in the racist WhatsApp group scandal from Netivot decided to leave the school, N12 reported on Thursday.

The teachers' decision to leave the school came after a hearing about the incident.

The school had initially decided to allow the teachers to stay at the school under review, and it is unclear if their decision to leave the school was made independently or at the school's urging.

What did the teachers do?

The teachers were heavily criticized by officials across the education system after they opened a WhatsApp group titled "Black [Girls] School Trip" a couple of weeks ago in which they mocked and ridiculed their Ethiopian students.

The group was seen by some of the students who were sitting behind them on the bus, and videos and photos of the group were distributed to the rest of the class.

Whatsapp logo is seen in this illustration taken August 22, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO)
Whatsapp logo is seen in this illustration taken August 22, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO)

The students and their parents claimed that this was not the first racist incident at the school as Ethiopian students have allegedly been treated differently from their other classmates and disciplined more severely.

Ariella Marsden contributed to this report.