A teacher who said during a debate about Common Core that the education reform was necessary because of “white privilege” has been arrested and faces charges of witness tampering and perjury.
Authorities with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office learned that David Pook, 47, who left St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire under “questionable circumstances” in 2008, learned of a relationship between Pook and a former female student, reports CBS Boston.
Pook has been employed at Derryfield School in Manchester since 2009.
After being called before a grand jury, Pook was arrested and charged with two counts of witness tampering and two counts of conspiracy to commit perjury, states the report.
As Breitbart News reported in 2014, during a debate about the Common Core standards education reform at St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Pook claimed to have “helped write the standards,” and said that, as a white male, he has been given “a lot of privilege” that he never earned.
EAG News provided a video of Pook’s comments during the debate, which created a firestorm among grassroots parents battling against the Common Core standards:
Pook stated:
The reason why I helped write the standards and the reason why I am here today is that as a white male in society, I’ve been given a lot of privilege that I didn’t earn. … I think it’s really important that all kids have an equal opportunity to learn how to read. I think I had decided advantages as a result of who I was, not because of any (inaudible).
And when I walk into places like Roberto Clemente High School on the west side of Chicago, I think it’s really important those kids learn how to read just as well as I had the opportunity to read. And in creating an equitable educational opportunity for all kids, I think this is actually the greatest civics lesson we could teach our kids.
According to WMUR, Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said his office launched an investigation into St. Paul’s School last year following reports of sexual assaults by teachers and the conviction of a student for sexual assault.