In response to a special education official who said there was "no such thing as an uneducatable person," Shakir told a gym full of citizens: "I would dispute that fact. There are certainly individuals that are uneducateable. I am simply suggesting to you and everybody else that there should be a line drawn where the taxpayer is responsible to educate certain people." Shakir's statement drew a chorus of boos, calls to resign, and even a comparison to Hitler. To which Shakir responded, "If you don't like it, that's the way it is. You people are divorced from reality."