At the East Lansing Board of Education meeting on Monday, Dec. 14, Timothy Akers, an English teacher and coach at East Lansing High School, resigned from his position as president of the teachers’ union, the East Lansing Education Association (ELEA). 

“I’m going to step down as the ELEA president and resign my position effective January 19. It’s truly been my privilege and my pleasure to represent the interests of our teachers of the ELEA and to work towards strengthening the ELPS family,” Akers said in the meeting.

Akers stepped down due to the handling of an inflammatory Facebook post on the ELEA Facebook page on December 2. The post was deleted 2 days later.

At the meeting, Akers took responsibility for the post and apologized to parents who had been offended.  “Please don’t let one ill-advised post tarnish the relationships you’ve established with your kids’ teachers, it’s vital to maintain those relationships to ensure success, especially right now,” Akers said.

He said he did not wish to censor the writer but he realized the delay in removing the post was wrong. “[not removing the post] put the reputation of the ELEA members at risk, a notion it’s hard for me to bear,” Akers said.

Since March tensions have been rising between the teachers’ union, parents, and school administrators over teacher safety as well as contract negotiations. In October, many parents were vocally critical of the teacher’s approach to online learning and the teachers’ unions’ advocacy against reopening.

Some parents of East Lansing Students took to Facebook to condemn the post and call for its removal. On the day of the post’s removal, Breitbart News wrote an article, which increased the controversy.

Akers posted an apology to the page a few days after the

post’s removal, encouraging people to look to him for concerns about the earlier post, a sentiment echoed in his resignation. He also defended teachers. “Just as troubling as the meme, however, has been the willingness of the community to cast a wide net over all our hard-working teachers,” he wrote. The entire Facebook page was taken down sometime that week. 

During the Board discussion, several members expressed support for his work, and sorrow at his departure, including School Board President Erin Graham. 

“He [Akers] was a tireless advocate on behalf of teachers and has been the entire time I’ve served on the board…I want to thank you, Tim, for your service and your advocacy on behalf of teachers,” Graham said. 

Akers declined Portrait’s invitation for further comment at the moment.

This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.

Last Updated Dec. 15 at 9:02 pm