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TEACHERS TARGETED
Save Texas Kids singles out Dallas ISD instructor for AP lesson
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By Bethany Erickson
bethany.erickson@peoplenewspapers.com
Educators and education advocates warned this summer: House Bill 3979, which many believe outlaws teaching Critical Race Theory, would create confusion.
And not long after, incidents bubbled up in several school districts, including Dallas ISD, where an email from Save Texas Kids urged teachers to report instances where they felt encouraged to teach CRT.
“Unfortunately, I know that many school districts will disregard this law which is why we need your help,” the letter’s author, Natalie Cato, wrote.
The bill was aimed at social studies classes and says that a “teacher may not be compelled to discuss a widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.” It doesn’t ban teaching controversial topics, per se— it says that teachers must “explore that topic objectively and in a manner free from political bias.”
With that backdrop, one AP language teacher at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts opted to use Cato’s email to help her students learn how to parse passages for their lessons on logical fallacies, cognitive biases, and rhetorical analysis.
HB 3979 pertains to social studies courses only, not English/language arts.
When Cato caught word of the teacher’s lesson, she fired off another missive to teachers, identifying the teacher as Melody Townsel
After Save Texas Kids sent an email to Dallas ISD teachers encouraging them to report instances where they’re forced to teach Critical Race Theory, one Booker T. Washington
teacher used the letter in her English/language arts class. (PHOTO: COURTESY SCREENSHOTS)
and urging Dallas ISD to terminate her for “illegally teaching CRT.”
One of her students said Cato’s characterization couldn’t be further from the truth.
“We’ve been working on argumentative essays, so when this letter came out, it happened to go perfectly with what we were learning,” the student, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “We reviewed the STK letter and first highlighted all of the rhetorical precis used throughout the essay. This helped us better understand rhetorical precis and how they can have a large impact on persuading people.
“After highlighting, we viewed the rubric we used to grade our own argumentative essay and graded the STK kids based on writing skills only. In fact, I learned a lot from this lesson.”
One teacher’s union says Cato and Save Texas Kids were wrong to single Townsel out and wrong to send the initial email, too.
“They’re putting a target on our teachers,” said Alliance AFT president Rena Honea.
State Rep. Rafael Anchia agrees.
“Gov. Abbott and Texas Republicans have put a target on teachers’ backs,” he said. “They were warned by experts, educators, historians, and parents of the ramifications that would stem as a result of passing classroom censorship policies.”
“I am worried about individuals and organizations attempting to use the bill to target teachers and educators and attempt to bully them through fear and intimidation, even if what they’re being targeted for isn’t addressed in HB 3979,” said Dallas ISD school board president Ben Mackey. “That said, I am proud of the work that Dallas ISD has done over the past years and will fully support Dallas ISD’s continued efforts to becoming a more equitable and effective school district for all of our students.”
HOMEWORK See more about HB3979 and its implementation - as well as more about this lesson — at peoplenewspapers.com.
SMU Moves a Little Earth, Begins Graduate School Construction
SMU’s eighth degree-granting school, which began operations in 2020, doesn’t have its fancy new home yet, but December dirt piles signal one is coming.
The school’s dean, James Quick, along with SMU Provost Elizabeth Loboa, President R. Gerald Turner, trustee Frances Anne “Francie” Moody-Dahlberg, board chair Robert Dedman Jr., and Vice President for Academic Affairs Brad Cheves did the dirty work with the ceremonial shovels at the groundbreaking.
The new Frances Anne Moody Hall, expected to open in the summer of 2023, is named for Frances Anne Moody-Dalberg.
The class of 1992 graduate serves as executive director of the Moody Foundation, which contributed the $100 million gift – the largest in SMU history – to create the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.
“We’re announcing the next stage in SMU’s development — a significant and unprecedented investment in the university’s graduate and doctoral programs and faculty research programs, which will propel SMU to even greater heights of national prominence,” Turner said at the time of the Moody Foundation gift.
The Moody School brings doctoral and master’s degrees in four schools under one institutional umbrella and already supports more than 75 Ph.D. students across these schools with competitive fellowships.
The investment in the Moody School and Frances Anne Moody Hall supports the SMU’s research mission by attracting outstanding graduate students who are the workforce behind the University’s doctoral and research ecosystem university officials announced.
The expansion of research is a strategic priority that fuels the steady ascent toward achieving the Carnegie R1 status awarded to only the nation’s highest-level research institutions. – Staff report
FROM LEFT: James Quick, Elizabeth Loboa, R. Gerald Turner, “Francie”
Moody-Dahlberg, and Robert Dedman Jr. (PHOTO: COURTESY SMU)
SOLD!
LISTING & SELLING Preston Hollow
SOLD!
Maria Reis Habito and other religious leaders meet with Pope Francis to discuss the state of our shared earth. Maria Reis Habito with Hsin Tao, founder of the Museum of World Religions. (PHOTOS:
COURTESY MUSEUM OF WORLD RELIGIONS)
Dallas Woman Meets with Pope
Scholar, Pontiff seek global harmony through climate action
Daniel Lalley
Special Contributor
Dr. Maria Reis Habito has long worked to help bring about a global consensus of peace, unity, and understanding among some of the most diverse populations on the planet.
The philosophy and religious scholar’s most recent interfaith efforts – addressing climate change – prompted a fall 2021 meeting with Pope Francis.
Born Catholic in Cologne, Germany, and raised in Saarbrücken, Habito has lived an international and ever-evolving life, working and studying throughout some of the most incredible places in Europe, Asia, and right here in the Park Cities.
Habito has been a Dallas resident since moving to be with her husband Ruben Habito, who was offered a professorship at SMU in 1989.
“I never imagined with all my Asian studies, I’d end up in Texas,” she said. “The SMU and Perkins School of Theology community has provided a place of belonging to us.”
As the international program director for the Museum of World Religions in Taipei, Taiwan, her work spans the globe bringing about a neo-Buddhist concept of encouraging interfaith dialogue to establish understanding and peace.
“The museum really wants people to develop respect, understanding, and love for other religions, and that’s what we’ve been working on for the last 20 years,” Habito said.
The MWR was founded by Buddhist monk and Habito’s long-time associate, Master Hsin Tao. Over the years, its mission, rooted in a desire to create a healthier global home for all, has continued to evolve.
“Now, with the environmental crisis, we’re focusing more on respect and love for the earth,” Habito said. “We want to train young people to look at ecology from a spiritual point of view but also from a scientific standpoint as well.”
In her capacity with the MWR, Habito is charged with finding scholars and spiritual leaders from across the globe to facilitate international forums focused on faith, science, and the state of our earth.
The museum’s interests have matched those of Pope Francis, who is appealing for global harmony through immediate climate action.
During the COP26 summit in November, in which the MWR and a vast network of religious leaders participated, Francis warned. “Time is running out. This occasion must not be wasted.”
WHAT IS IT?
Founded November 2001 in Taipei Taiwan, the Museum of World Religions is celebrating its 20th anniversary fostering global religious diplomacy under Venerable Hsin Tao, Buddhist monk and founder. This museum presents multiple exhibits on major world religions while also working to bring about unity in all belief systems. Visit mwr.org.tw/mwr_en.
