Teacher banned after telling pupils Rosa Parks did not give up bus seat and Martin Luther King was a fraud
Teacher who told sixth graders that Rosa Parks “didn’t exist” and Martin Luther King was guilty of plagiarism has been banned.
Patrick Lawler, 62, has brought the teaching profession into disrepute after making a series of offensive comments, it has been revealed.
Witnesses told the panel how he told sixth-graders in a transition day class that Martin Luther King was a “con artist and embezzled a lot of money” and that Rosa Parks “didn’t really exist.”
The issue came to light when a parent complained about the lesson, which was supposed to be about medieval history.
Students in the ninth-grade class told a witness that he hung a picture of Martin Luther King near the end of class, and when asked about him, Mr. Lawler told the class that he “illegally changed his name and fraudulently obtained his doctorate.”
He also mentioned Rosa Parks and told them that “the bus seat incident was completely staged.”
The panel called his comments “inappropriate and unprofessional” and said students that age “lack the ability to explore, test and challenge minority views that are presented in an unbalanced manner.”
The offensive comments are among a number of comments made by Mr Lawler while he was a teacher at Bede Academy in Northumberland between 2015 and 2020.
In a series of online newsletters he “wrote or co-authored”, Mr Lawler said sex between two men was “an unnatural, unhealthy, disgusting perversion”.
He has also made Islamophobic statements, describing Islam as “satanic” and “evil-inspired”.
In or around November 2020, he also told students that the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement stood for ‘Burn, Loot, Murder.’
Another student said that around December 2020, he told students that “there was a time when you could get cocaine in a purer form.”
He was disciplined in December 2020 after being issued a warning letter a year ago and resigned during this investigation.
He attended Monarch Education, where he was accused of unprofessional behavior in classes; This includes saying there is no scientific evidence of COVID-19.
He was subsequently referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) after the Bristol Local Authority Appointed Officer held a strategy meeting in November 2025 about concerns raised about his actions both in his private life and in the classroom.
In December 2025, a TRA panel found him guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and banned him from teaching indefinitely.
Head Louisa Munton said: “These elements are the serious nature of the misconduct found, the lack of insight or evidence of remorse and the risk to the future welfare of students.”
He can apply for reconsideration after four years.
