Art is War
From the “Only in Texas” department…
Sydney McGee, an art teacher in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas, was recently suspended and her contract may not be renewed by the Frisco School Board in a meeting on Monday because – remember, she’s an art teacher – she took the kids to an art museum.
And one of the kids told his mommy that he saw a sculpture of a naked person.
And Ultra-Mom complained to the school.
Nevermind the fact that the mother signed a consent form for her child to go on this trip, just like every parent had to do. Nevermind that the school district gave her clearance to take these kids to the Dallas Museum of Art. Nevermind that she has been teaching for 28 years and had won the Star Teacher Award only two years before from the very same school.
She was also never told which artwork was supposedly so offensive, and when she asked if she could speak with the parent to talk it over with her, the school refused to tell her which parent complained.
It’s things like this that made my parents – both of them teachers – foam at the mouth for retirement.
What the hell is the point of a consent form? Did it not occur to this parent that there might be nude artworks at this Museum of Art? Or to the school?
Like the child is going to be irreparably harmed because they saw one work of art. Once upon a time, nude statues lined the streets of great civilizations, our own Justice Department has a statue of a nude woman holding scales in its press room.
Hell, it’s not exactly like the Statue of Liberty is wearing a 3-piece suit.
The school district is trying to say that it stems from performance problems and that the complaint is just the cherry on top. A 28-year veteran suddenly has performance problems? An award-winning 28-year veteran? She went from winning a “Star Teacher” award to a “problem” in less than 2 years?
Also, the school – Fisher Elementary School – is known for their art program, and many parents have said they moved to the area just so their kids could be part of their great art program. Which says to me that the school probably hires the best they can find.
Like award-winning 28 year teaching veterans.
The trip happened last April, and involved 89 5th-graders. Personally, I think the fact that she went to a museum with 89 kids and didn’t lose any of them makes her a phenomenal teacher. Especially at a time when you’ve got teachers having sex with their students like it’s going out of style.
But think about it. 89 kids. Even with our divorce rate today, that’s at least 150 parents. And one complained. And that was enough. One out of 150 people.
1 out of 150 people would have a problem with immunizing kids.
1 out of 150 people would have a problem with child safety seats.
1 out of 150 people would think that the moon landings were faked.
1 out of 150 people believe that the Keebler Elves are real.
1 out of 150 people believe they’ve been visited by aliens.
If you’re standing in a room with 150 other random people and everybody agrees on something except one person… Who are you gonna side with?
Not the Frisco School Board. They didn’t put up one shred of defense for their teacher, not even to ONE PARENT (who probably never even saw the sculpture she’s so rabid about, just took her 5th grade kid’s word for it).
I would say that this is all about money - just an excuse to get rid of a teacher who is approaching retirement age and, due to her many years of experience, commands a much higher pay than a newbie out of college that they could pay half as much.
But then I remember, “Wait a second... Teachers don’t get paid NEARLY enough for it to be about money.”
And people wonder why there’s a shortage of teachers today.
I RARELY ever do this, but I think the people at the Frisco School Board need to know just how backwards they’ve just made their entire community look. This story is becoming national news and is getting played all around the country, and everybody there should be embarrassed. Email HERE to voice your opinion to their communications director.
I wonder how many parent’s complaints it would take to get their school board fired?
Thursday, September 28, 2006
