'To Kill a Mockingbird' teacher fired, students speak out

Matt Mastronardi, a Spanish teacher at West Valley High School in Spokane, WA, was fired in June 2025 for reading a passage from To Kill a Mockingbird containing the N-word during a class discussion in April of 2025. Mastronardi’s firing is a dangerous overreach of political correctness, punishing honest engagement with literature.

The incident unfolded when 15-year-old student Hayden Holdway challenged Mastronardi to read the word aloud after a debate about censoring the novel. Mastronardi, emphasizing academic context, complied, only to be recorded and later dismissed by Superintendent Kyle Rydell for “poor judgement.” Holdway defends him, saying, “He made it clear it was for critical thinking, not discrimination.”

With over 2,000 signatures on a Change.org petition and a GiveSendGo campaign, supporters rally for Mastronardi’s reinstatement, while critics, including the Spokane NAACP, highlight the word’s harm. This case is a flashpoint: should teachers be silenced for teaching truth?

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