SF teacher's lesson plan calls Trump 'sexist' & 'racist'

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - A San Francisco teacher’s lesson plan is gaining national attention, after it labeled Donald Trump as "a racist and sexist man."

Many students at Mission High School in San Francisco say the president elect is not one who represents who they are.

"I don’t think he respects anybody of color," said senior Natalie Solano.

"There are a lot of things I'd like to say about Donald Trump, but I just want to say I'm not scared of him," said Senior Javier Fuentes.

Donald Trump’s rhetoric pertaining to mass deportation is still ringing, loud and clear for these students. We're told the majority of them LGBT, immigrants or children of color.                                                                                    

"We have a good amount of immigrant students here at school. They’re out here to better their education and their family brought them here to better their lives and they have 100 percent chance of doing that here at Mission High School and for Donald Trump to take that away, it places fear in a lot of people here," said Solano.

That fear and heightened level of uncertainty is why teacher Fakrah Shah felt it was necessary for educators to offer support and empowerment to the students.

School officials say she created this lesson plan as a resource for teachers, unsure about how to talk to the students. However, the part of the plan that’s under scrutiny is the label given to Trump saying he is "a racist and sexist man".

"As educators our first impulse is to provide the students with a safe place in which to deal with their feelings and it made sense out of the world and that’s what this lesson plan is about," said Lita Blanc, president of the teacher's union United Educators of San Francisco.

The teacher's union says Shah's lesson plan is not a required resource but an optional one for educators.

"Fakrah Shah was well within her rights as an educator and we strand with her," said Blanc.

During our interview, the president began talking about a peaceful march held at one of the elementary schools Wednesday, to shed light on the impact this election has had on the youth, citing one of their chants.

"Where there is love there is life, I'm going to start crying, so you had kids kindergarten to fifth grade and their teachers and their parents standing in the school yard affirming their right to be who they are in this city which is largely a city based on the values of acceptance and diversity and educators have the right to promote that," said Blanc.

The district sent KTVU a statement saying "Understandably our teachers are helping students process current events. Our schools serve diverse student populations and when teachers develop lessons to discuss current events, they are encouraged to include multiple perspectives and refer to issues/beliefs/values/behavior, not people or political parties."