A New Jersey teacher was fired for repeatedly using racial slurs and profanity in class to complain about the racial slurs and profanity he heard in rap lyrics.
Vincent Serpico, a math teacher at Piscataway High School, admits he "went ballistic" and had a "meltdown" in front of his special education class earlier this year, reported Bridgewater Courier News.
The teacher became infuriated May 8 after going into a boys' bathroom where a student was playing music on a boom box that included lyrics Serpico called "offensive" and said he "didn't really enjoy."
Serpico went across the hall to his classroom, and a student followed soon after laughing and joking about an incident involving another student and teacher.
He told the student the story wasn't funny and asked him to remove his earbuds, but the student refused -- and that's when Serpico "got upset."
Serpico admitted to arbitrators that he had a classroom "meltdown," and unleashed a torrent of racial slurs and profanity.
"I go in the bathroom, I hear, 'N*gger, n*gger, n*gger, f*ck you, s*ck my d*ck,'" he told students. "This is all I hear all day."
A girl in the class asked to go to a counseling area because she was upset at his language, but Serpico tried to explain the words weren't directed at anyone, although he eventually issued her a pass to leave.
Serpico then tried to return to the lesson, and he heard the first student tell another student the teacher would be reported and fired.
The teacher admitted he "went ballistic" on that student, and at least five students recorded video of him getting in the teen's face, yelling and jabbing his finger.
"I'm tired of this sh*t you pull every day," Serpico said.
Serpico, who had been teaching at the school since 2009, had previously been disciplined for referring to students as "idiots."
He told arbitrators his actions were inappropriate, but he said he had become frustrated after asking for years to return to the middle school and leave the special education program.
"I am just tired of saying the same stuff, numerous times, everyday for X amount of years," Serpico testified. "They got the best of me ... I am sorry I even did that."
