Curran: ‘I share the concerns of the parents of SD33C and join in calling for the removal of this teacher from the school’

State Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove). | Sen. John Curran'Facebook

By DuPage Policy Journal Report

Aug 18, 2023

Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) has joined parents in expressing concern over a recently hired local elementary school teacher's disturbing social media posts.Elementary school art teacher Kris Martin works for Homer 33c serving Homer Glen, Illinois and Lockport.

Martin's self-disclosed struggles with 'mania and psychosis' prompting fears of potential violence have sparked a call for swift action to remove the individual from the school, as voiced by Curran and online voices such as Libs of TikTok.

One of elementary school art teacher Kris Martin's social media posts. | LibsofTikTok / Twitter

"I recently became aware of the disturbing social media posts from a recently hired local teacher that make this individual unfit for the classroom,” Curran said in a statement to DuPage Policy Journal.

“I share the concerns of the parents of SD33C and join in calling for the removal of this teacher from the school.”

Community members and parents in Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C have similarly expressed shock and concern over the hiring of Martin.

The teacher's 2018 and 2020 posts, including profanity-laden comments targeting police officers, have ignited outrage and prompted calls for action, particularly from parents with students enrolled in the district.

Libs of TikTok noted Martin’s social media post discussing his mental illness.

"@Homer33c hired this individual as an elementary school teacher. He claims to suffer from ‘mania and psychosis’ which can lead him to be ‘violent and hurtful,’” Libs of TikTok said on Twitter.

The account linked to Martin’s social media post.

“I HAVE BI POLAR 1 DISORDER WITH MANIA AND PSYCHOSIS!” one post in Martin’s name reads.

“This condition has drastically changed my life for better and worse. Because of it I suffer from irrational thought processes which make my fears and anxieties triple. Every day is a battle with my mind to survive and be the best me I can be. I have done things in conditions of psychosis and mania that have been violent and hurtful. But I am NOT my disease. I am ME! And I know ME. And I LOVE ME!”

Another photo posted by LibsofTikTok and attributed to Martin showed a pair of bloody hands hovering over a gaped mouth woman whose face and neck were covered in blood.

Illinois Review unearthed other disturbing posts as well.