Philadelphia teacher harrasses student over 'Romney' tee shirt

Philadelphia - The Philadelphia School District is investigating an in-class bullying incident that was so traumatizing the 16-year-old victim, an honor student, doesn’t want to return to school.

However the verbal assault that forced the girl from the classroom was not leveled by a student; instead, it was her geometry teacher at Charles Carroll High School in the Port Richmond section of the city. Even more bizarre, the incident occurred because the teacher went into an alleged uncontrolled rant over a “Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan” Tee shirt sophomore Samantha Pawlucy was wearing. Pawlucy says she was embarrassed and humiliated by the teacher, who told her to lose the shirt after comparing it to wearing a “KKK shirt.” The incident occurred last Friday during a dress down Friday at the school. No one else at the school made an issue of the shirt however when Pawlucy got to her geometry class, the as yet unnamed teacher lit into her, including ordering her to leave the public school classroom. "The teacher told me to get out of the classroom, I said no," Samantha said. "She told me to take off my shirt and said that she has another one if I need one. And then the teacher asked me… 'are your parents Republican?' I said, 'I don't know.' She said that's like her wearing a KKK shirt." Samantha, an honor student, was so embarrassed by the harassment that took place in front of the entire class that she told her parents she didn’t want to return to school. The teacher, who is African American, reportedly told her that the facility was a "Democratic school." The girl’s parents requested a meeting with the principal and the teacher. The teacher apologized, claiming the statement was meant as a "joke," then abruptly left the meeting. "It was funny to her but I was really embarrassed," Samantha said. "If it was a joke between two adults, I can take a joke like that but (Sam) didn't know how to take it, she doesn’t understand, she actually thinks she did something wrong," father Richard Pawlucy said. "I can just picture her sitting there feeling ashamed for just wearing a T-shirt," said her mother Christine Pawlucy. "That someone could spin that and throw it back on a 16-year-old child and make her feel so terrible." A spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District tells NBC10 the teacher was transferred to another classroom as the district investigates the incident. Joyce A. Hoog, is listed as principal on the school's website.