Opinion
By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post
Nearly two weeks after a Midway-area teacher reportedly made gestures mocking the slaying of Charlie Kirk, her school (Nathan Hale Elementary, 6140 S. Melvina) still appears to be in siege mentality--with its website and social media accounts erased and some parents claiming that phones are going unanswered with no voicemail options, due to full inboxes clogged (presumably) with messages from folks angry with the teacher.
Anyway, we all know the story. It made national and even international headlines--although it was given relatively scant notice by Chicago's downtown news media.
Opinion appears split on the matter, with some pointing out that the teacher broke no law and her gestures are speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
I agree with them on that.
Yet others are asking if it is appropriate for someone who publicly makes repulsive gestures that mock and apparently celebrate murder, to be teaching young children in a local public school.
I agree with them on that.
Anyway, one of those people is Clearing resident Al Molina, an elected member of the Local School Council at Hale and the father of children attending Chicago Public Schools.
About a week ago (October 23), he wrote a long letter to members of the Chicago Board of Education.
Here it is.
First, let me apologize in advance for my lengthy message but what I have to share is extremely important. I am a very concerned Nathan Hale Elementary School parent and elected member of the Nathan Hale Local School Council.
After sharing a few communications with Network 10 Chief, Ms. Weber, and speaking to members from the Departments of the Board of Education and Safety and Security, I feel it is time to contact you directly.
I registered to be a public speaker at your 10:30 am Board Meeting on October 23, 2025 but was not chosen. I believe this was intentional because I am a Nathan Hale School parent and stated that I wanted to address safety and security at our school. I am sure some people do not want to hear my concerns about our school in a public setting.
Words cannot describe how distressing it was to view Nathan Hale Elementary School teacher, Lucy Martinez, simulate and mock the death of Charlie Kirk. Clearly, she did not agree with his political views. But rather than to focus on peacefully protesting for the cause she believed in, she took the opportunity to knowingly and purposely engage in gross behavior that promoted violence and the
death of another human being.
This behavior is unbecoming of a school teacher and must not be tolerated. Furthermore, I do not want this teacher to interact with my child ever again and there are many community members that feel the same way about our students. The number of social media comments from the community against this teacher are overwhelming
Charlie Kirk was assassinated on the campus of a Utah university. Lucy Martinez mocked his death by putting her hand in the shape of a gun, put it at her neck, and yelled, “bang,” numerous times. This was directed specifically towards Charlie Kirk supporters and has been seen by millions of people throughout the world through social media, news broadcasts, podcasts, and YouTube.
By celebrating the death of a father, husband, son, and political activist, she has demonstrated a lack of ethics and morality to the world. Our school has been terribly embarrassed and she does not deserve to be with our children.
Chicago Public Schools have sent countless messages over the past several years stating, “Safety and Security is our top priority.” Yet this teacher is glorifying a school shooting and death all because the victim was someone she clearly did not
agree with politically.
If there was a school shooting at Nathan Hale Elementary,
God forbid, would Lucy Martinez mock the victims? Or does she only mock the victims of people she disagrees with politically?
If safety and security is a top priority at Chicago Public Schools than now is the time to prove it. She has compromised the learning environment by becoming an unnecessary distraction
and caused psychological harm to our community.
Freedom of Speech has consequences. If a Chicago Public Schools teacher attended an LGBTQ rally and celebrated the death of a member of that community, would CPS administration support that individual's right to free speech? I think
not and rightfully so.
In both cases the teachers should no longer be allowed to
work at our schools. There cannot be double standards, otherwise you have no standards at all and what a terrible lesson this would be for our students as well as a terrible message to the community. Chicago Public Schools educators promoting violence must always be unacceptable with serious consequences.
If Lucy Martinez is allowed to remain a teacher at Nathan Hale Elementary, or any other Chicago Public School for that matter, you will be sending a clear message to the community and public that her behavior is acceptable. The only people that
would agree with this idea are those that support her political viewpoints.
Political sides do not matter. Promoting violence must not be tolerated regardless of the issue. Just think about all of the Nathan Hale Elementary students and parents that have seen her disgraceful act countless times including my family and our son who now thinks very negatively of this teacher at his school.
Unfortunately, we have additional safety concerns at our school.
Because of Lucy Martinez’s actions, the school website has been down and the phones are off. For the record, when I refer to our phones being shut off, I specifically mean that no
one is taking incoming phone calls as they are going to voice mail with the mailboxes being full.
I have addressed these concerns with District 10 Chief, Mira Weber, but it has fallen on deaf ears. This has never happened before and we all know that this was done specifically because CPS officials do not want the school to be inundated with messages and phone calls from parents, the public, and media because of the present situation.
Parents like myself are being punished. Since Friday of last week, my child has been out of school with a virus. I have called the school nine times since then and every time I call it says, “The mailbox is full.” I call the main office, “The
mailbox is full.” I call the absence line, “The mailbox is full.” I even tried to reach the case manager for our school, “The mailbox is full.”
Other parents have shared similar frustrations and this can lead to serious safety concerns.
What if the police and fire departments need to call because of an urgent matter or emergency at the school or in the neighborhood?
What if the Department of Children and Family Services needs to call the school to check on a child that is
suspected of being abused?
What if there is a suspicious person around the school or something compromising safety is taking place outside and someone needed to call to inform the school?
What if parents have a family emergency and need to
call the school?
What if parents want to call their children’s absences in to keep
the school informed?
What if parents need to contact their children’s teachers, the
principals, dean, or case manager for various important matters?
The answer is the same for every one of these questions, they cannot contact anyone because the phones are down all because of the Lucy Martinez matter. Her actions have led to
these further issues.
We also have a problem with transparency. Wednesday evening, Nathan Hale parents received a letter from Principal Illes-Gomez. Near the bottom of the first page, this appears:
"We have not shut off our phones. I apologize if anyone had trouble getting through to our main office by phone. Many calls are coming in from beyond our school community, but we hope that these will subside soon. If you need something, please email your child’s teacher if you have questions."
Here is my problem. At 2:34 pm yesterday afternoon I called the office of the Board of Education to ask if I was chosen to be a speaker at the 10:30 am School Board Meeting. I was informed that I was not chosen and by the way, I never
received an e-mail message to confirm this as part of your protocols.
During my conversation with the gentleman that took my call, I expressed serious concerns and apprehension with our phones being down at Nathan Hale School. The gentleman was respectful and shared that he understood my concerns. He never stated that the phones were active, again, recognizing my safety fears with the phones being down.
Before our conversation ended, he provided me three phone
numbers. The first two were for the Safety and Security Departments and the third phone number was for the Law Department.
The first phone number to the Safety and Security Department was just a voice message, no help at all. The second number to the Safey and Security Department led to someone answering. I, again, expressed my detailed concerns with our phones being down. The gentleman I spoke with shared that he understood my worries and that they were aware that the phones were down as the department was
notified.
This left me dumbfounded thinking, how can the office of Safety and Security approve of our school phones purposely down?
This is simply appalling.
I asked him to take my report. He said there was nothing to report, which left me frustrated. He was not being disrespectful, just stated that there was nothing they could do because they were already aware that the phones were shut off. Our phone call ended with me pleading with him to take may name and phone number and give it to a superior, which he agreed.
The message from the principal on Wednesday evening states, “We have not shut off our phones,” yet a member of the Safety and Security Department said to me directly that the department was award that the phones were shut off.
This is very troubling. It is worth stating again that I am convinced our web page and phones are down specifically because Chicago Public Schools does not want Nathan Hale
Elementary inundated with phone calls and messages regarding the Lucy Martinez matter. This is unfair to parents and compromises safety.
I will conclude my letter by asking for your strong leadership at this very important time. As a parent and Local School Council Member at Nathan Hale Elementary, I have outlined the present issues in great detail and ask for you to act in a manner that will help our school get back on track and away from the present distractions.
Our school community and neighborhood is experiencing hurt, anger, frustration, and fears that Chicago Public Schools will not do the right thing. There are serious trust issues and a lack of transparency as well. Safety messages sent out to parents
frequently come across as if they were written by your law department and not heartfelt.
This can all change if first and foremost, you put our students first by removing Lucy Martinez from our school and finding a way to allow incoming phone calls to be accepted by the school staff.
My sincerest appreciation for your time and attention to the issues that have been presented.
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