O'Reilly gets an "F" in facts, falsely claiming NY public-school teachers "are instructed not to say a word" about "6-year-olds going, 'F-you, you mother-F'er,' in school"

Summary: Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that public-school teachers in New York City "are instructed not to say a word" about students "going, 'F-you, you mother-F'er,' in school." In fact, according to the New York City schools' discipline code, "[u]sing profane, obscene, vulgar, lewd or abusive language or gestures" is a "Level 2 infraction" that is considered "disorderly disruptive behavior" and is punishable by a range of disciplinary actions.

During the May 3 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that public-school teachers in New York City "are instructed not to say a word" about students "going, 'F-you, you mother-F'er,' in school." O'Reilly maintained that using such profanity is "[a]cceptable in the public school" because "they don't want to deal with it." In fact, according to the New York City schools' discipline code, "[u]sing profane, obscene, vulgar, lewd or abusive language or gestures" is a "Level 2 infraction" that is considered "disorderly disruptive behavior" and is punishable by a range of disciplinary actions.

O'Reilly cited the New York City school system's alleged tolerance of poor "conduct outside the classroom" as a reason that "I'm not gonna send any kid ... to a public elementary school." He added that teachers' purported inaction against profanity was "the most stark illustration" he could give of the alleged demise of public schools, and that it was an example "that even the smear, left-wing websites can understand."

According to the discipline code, a "student/teacher conference," a "parent conference," or a "principal's suspension" are among the possible punishments for using profanity on school grounds. The policy also notes that such standards of behavior are not limited to the classroom:

The standards set forth in the Discipline Code apply to behavior in school during school hours, before and after school, while on school property, while traveling on vehicles funded by the Department of Education, at all school-sponsored events and on other than-school property when such behavior can be demonstrated to negatively affect the educational process or to endanger the health, safety, morals, or welfare of the school community.

From the May 3 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: Hey, I wouldn't even play the Village People to second-graders. Give me a break, OK. They're not getting "YMCA" until they're in the fifth grade. All right. We know what those Village People are up to.

Um, I'm not gonna send any kid that I could, you know, help to a public elementary school for one simple reason: the conduct outside of the classroom. The, what is tolerated in the public-school hallways and campuses is, to me, intolerable. For example, there are in New York City public schools, 6-year-olds going, "F you, you mother-F'er," in school, in the hallway. And the teachers are instructed not to say a word. You aware of that?

LIS WIEHL [Fox News legal analyst]: I wasn't aware of that.

O'REILLY: OK. That happens every day, all day in the public schools here in New York City. And I know it happens in Chicago and Los Angeles and Boston and Washington, D.C. In any major urban center. It doesn't happen in the small towns; it happens in the cities. I live in New York. I'm not gonna have my 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-year-old go to a school where they're saying that stuff in the hallway and the teacher doesn't do anything about it. You know, private school, that does not happen.

Now that's the most stark illustration I can give you, that even the smear, left-wing websites can understand that example that I just gave you. Something as simple as that. Language. Acceptable in the public school. And you know why it's acceptable? Because they don't want to deal with it. They don't want to haul the kid in, call the parent, have the parent come down, sue them, scream and yell, all of that. They'd rather have the kid say, "Blank you, you mother-blanker." And that is what's going on in public elementary schools in the major urban areas of the United States of America.

—J.M.