SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. – A special education teacher who recently gave up his bid for a South Plainfield Council seat over revelations he mooned and shouted racial epithets at customers in a diner in 2007 is now under investigation by school officials.

Rahway School District special education teacher Joseph Sorrentino was allegedly arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in 2007 after customers at Sherbans Diner told police he mooned customers and shouted “ni****.”

A year later, police were called to the diner again because of Sorrentino, who allegedly hurled epithets at two lesbian customers, NJ.com reports.

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“We’re still fact-finding this right now,” district superintendent Edward Yergalonis told the news site. “I don’t believe this charge raises to the level that precludes him from serving as a public school teacher.”

If it doesn’t, it certainly should.

One can only imagine the type of language this teacher uses when in the classroom, considering his alleged behavior in public.

School officials contend Sorrentino passed a background check when the district hired him in 2009, but refused to discuss the “active personnel matter” further, NJ.com reports.

What’s perhaps more disturbing is that Sorrentino is not only a teacher and aspiring politician, he’s a school board member in the South Plainfield school district.

Court records show the teacher’s charge in 2007 was reduced and he paid a $533 fine, as well as court costs, according to the news site.

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Sorrentino recently dropped out of the South Plainfield borough council race after his bad behavior become public.

Superintendent Yergalonis said he was “extremely troubled” by the teacher’s conduct, but did not disclose whether Sorrentino has been suspending during the district investigation.

“I find it extremely disturbing,” he told NJ.com. “I can assure you that the board of education and each of our schools takes this type of instance seriously.”

The biggest question, however, remains unanswered: Why are school officials just now finding out about his 2007 arrest?