Tukwila superintendent resigns following accusations of racism

Following accusations of racism, the Tukwila
Superintendent of Schools has resigned.

“If she wasn’t a person of color, me personally, I would
have gone after her long before now,” bus driver Richie
Coleman told KING 5.

Ethelda Burke has been on paid administrative leave,
during which the office of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission investigated allegations by 10
district employees of racial harassment and
discrimination.

Burke resigned on June 30. In a letter, she wrote that the
allegations had taken a toll on her family, and she
thought it would be “impossible” for her to be effective
if she returned to work as the Tukwila Superintendent.

Some of the accusations included telling a bus driver he
had to stop being a “big, black bus driver, scaring all of
the white drivers,” and referring to “professional African
American women as slaves.”

The district said it has not seen any evidence proving
Burke discriminated against any employee.