I do not at all condone this behavior and I think in this situation I'm not sure if you were the teacher or just an intern but I would of told either the head of the ESE department or at least brought it up to an administrator right away. This is a complete breach of our code of ethics as teachers as well as the equal opportunities act. In the least, you can just bring it up in a nice way saying that it made you uncomfortable and you weren't sure of how to handle this.

I would inform the principal and tell them that you do not want them subbing inside your classroom. I may even contact the substitute director at district and inform them of what happened. This behavior is not acceptable under any circumstances.

This is inappropriate behavior. My advice is to speak to your principle. That kind of careless behavior can scar children. It may not have meant much to the sub but that is likely to stay with your students for a while. I wouldn't want that sub back in my classroom.

Before sharing my answer, I want to note that I tend to think in extremes as a person. I am trying to avoid saying anything that can turn into an extreme but I want to share this warning ahead of time. This is a major breach of the code of ethics. I'm not sure if substitutes are TECHNICALLY bound by these same codes but a school can easily stop hiring her to be a substitute. It is important that all children have an advocate, especially ESE students. Everyone has the right to be treated respect and it only takes one rotten apple to spoil a batch and convince these children that they are something awful. It's not even like this teacher just mocked the students, she used a DEROGATORY TERM to describe them. If your school knows this about the sub and allows her to return, they're only putting the students in danger of more verbal abuse.

Definitely tell the ESE specialist and administration. I'm not familiar with the substitute chain of command. But, I would definitely talk to their higher up, so the situation never happens again.

In the future confront the teacher head on in the moment. Then contact the board because they do not deserve a spot as a teacher.

Inform the administration so they can tell the company providing the substitute. The substitute teachers go through training and that goes against the training they completed. That kind of comment could get them "expelled" from your school, and require another training.

This is something that the school principal should know about because this is inappropriate professional behavior. I would inform school officials of this and also ask students about it to find out more about what happened.

This substitute made an inappropriate and hurtful comment that was directed towards your students. If I was in your situation, I would respectfully and assertively make it clear to them that remarks such as the one they had just made are not tolerated in my classroom. I'd explain that "vegetable" was a distasteful name for the wonderful students that work hard to succeed despite the difficulties they may face. I would most definitely let the school administration know of this incident and write a report to the staffing company if your district uses one. Even though the substitute was only there one day, it only takes one hateful comment to stick with someone. They must take responsibility for their actions as well as face the consequences. We educators do not want people who make those comments in our school systems!