First Grade Maryland Teacher Charged With Choking Her Students

SILVER SPRING, Md. - A Montgomery County teacher was charged Tuesday with choking, kicking and punching her first-grade students during the school day.

Susan Burke, 35, of Laurel, Md., a teacher at Greencastle Elementary School in Silver Spring, is charged with nine counts of second-degree assault in the attacks that police say happened in December and March. Several students witnessed the assaults, according to police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks.

Police began investigating on Jan. 7, when a boy disclosed that he had been assaulted by his teacher. Detectives interviewed all the students in Burke's class and determined that there were nine victims, police said.

Nine of the 6- and 7-year-old students reported that Burke choked them and some said she also kicked, punched or scratched or tightly squeezed their arms. Eight said the attacks happened in December and a ninth in March, authorities said.

Burke was being held Tuesday on $75,000 bond.

Burke was removed from the classroom and placed on administrative leave when staff learned of the allegations, school officials said. Counseling has been made available to students and their families and the school notified parents of the arrest.

"We cannot discuss specific personnel issues but be assured we take these allegations very seriously," the school system said in a statement. "It is important to note that this teacher has not been in the classroom since this allegation was raised on Jan. 4."

No one answered the phone at a listing for Burke in Laurel and it was not clear if she had an attorney. A woman who answered the phone at the Montgomery County Education Association, the union for county teachers, counselors and media specialists, declined to comment.