Maywood high school teacher arrested after hitting student

MAYWOOD, CA - MAY 17: A worker takes a lunch break during construction of a new school May 17, 2006 in the Los Angeles-area city of Maywood, California. In November, voters, angered that city police were stopping and seizing hundreds of cars whose unlicensed drivers frequently turned out to be illegal immigrants, elected a new majority on the city council. The new council majority promptly voted to eliminate the police department's traffic division, resulting in car impoundments dropping from 240 a month to 40. The city in January also officially opposed a proposed federal law that would have criminalized illegal immigration and forced local police to enforce immigration law. Approximately 96 percent of the city's 29,000 residents is Latino, with an additional 10,000 illegal residents living within city limits, according to estimates. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

A Los Angeles-area teacher was arrested on suspicion of punching a 14-year-old student who used a racial epithet and threw a basketball at him in a classroom, authorities said.

Marston Riley, 64, was taken into custody on suspicion of child abuse after the fight recorded on cellphone video Friday during a music class at Maywood Academy High School, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials said they’re cooperating with the sheriff’s investigation. “We take this matter very seriously and do not condone violence or intolerance of any kind,” a district statement said.

With files from the Associated Press.

Guest:

Nick Salerno, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Education at Cal Poly Pomona, where he also teaches the Educational Administration Credential Program, a professional development program for teachers seeking to become school leaders; he is the former superintendent of El Monte Union High School District and the former principal of El Monte High School