Are Teachers Treated Poorly In This Country?

The Young Turks

Annika McKenzie, 34, is charged with second-degree assault and strangulation for physically attacking a teacher, according to ABC 7.  Her 14-year-old niece is facing second-degree assault charges as a juvenile.

McKenzie allegedly became enraged because she believed that a math teacher at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead, Long Island “put her hands on” her 12-year-old daughter, the New York Daily News reports.

The teacher, Catherine Engelhardt, was outside her classroom at around 2 p.m. when, cops said, McKenzie attacked her. Engelhardt is a 22-year veteran of the Hempstead School District.  McKenzie allegedly knocked the teacher to the ground, then put her in a chokehold until she lost consciousness, according to Pix 11.

The niece allegedly joined in the attack by punching the teacher in the head, Hempstead Police Chief Michael McGowan told Newsday.

(Updated report)