Arkansas Teacher: ‘Race Card’ Led to Dismissal

A fired high school teacher in Texarkana, Arkansas says she sued her former school district due in part to comments made by a school board member.

The Texarkana Gazette reports that Andrea Johnson testified Friday in federal court. She’s asking for $750,000 in back pay and damages.

The district says it fired Johnson in 2009 because she gave special-needs students the answers to a test. Johnson denies the allegations and says one board member said he voted to fire her because her attorney “played the race card.”

She says she hasn’t been able to find a teaching position since her firing and was unemployed for six months before finding another job.

The trial resumes Wednesday and is expected to go to a jury Thursday.