A Texas teacher was placed on administrative leave after calling junior-high-school students 'complete and utter morons'

• A Texas teacher was placed on leave after calling her students "morons" in a recording.

• The comment could be heard in audio obtained by KHOU.

• "I want to be fired at this point," the teacher could be heard saying.

A Texas teacher was placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into a recording in which she could be heard calling her junior-high-school students "utter morons."

In audio obtained by KHOU, the teacher, identified only as a first-year teacher at Harry Wright Junior High School near Houston, voiced frustration about her job. A reporter at the station posted a snippet of the recording on Twitter on Wednesday.

"If I have to keep dealing with kids that are complete and utter morons, I'm done," the teacher could be heard saying in the recording.

The teacher added: "I want to be fired at this point. I literally am going to hurt myself if I have to keep coming here."

She continued: "I have never in my life dealt with kids that are so awful that if they fell into a river I would let them float away."

Lamar Consolidated Independent School District did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In a statement to KHOU last week, the district called the teacher's comments "disturbing" and said she was placed on leave on January 13.

"Parents trust us with their students every day and, unfortunately, the actions of a single person have the potential to breach that trust," the district said. "That is why it is important to underscore that the hardworking, dedicated staff at Wright Junior High School work to create a place where all students feel included and valued, and the comments made in the video are not a reflection of the campus as a whole."

The incident was met with both backlash and compassion, KHOU reported, as teachers grapple with burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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