Submitted by Mary Stoner, Oct 27, 2007 17:14

I'd like to say I'm surprised, but the action taken against Mr. Tierce sounds typical.

I am proud to be a Texas teacher, but I have never accepted the lack of respect we receive as professionals. Not long after moving from Newport, Rhode Island to Texas, I was accused of teaching "devil worship" by a parent because my students read sections of Hamilton's Mythology, a part of our district's curriculum. In another incident, I was questioned at great length by a principal and a parent because her son chose to read Something Wicked this Way Comes, an approved reading selection. Her premise? As a Christian, she did not approve the reading of any literature that contains the word "wicked." Neither the fact that Bradbury selected a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth as the title for his novel, nor the idea that the Bible makes reference to the word "wicked" had an impact.

Though I was not put on administrative leave for either incident, I did not receive administrative support. I was placed in the position of defending myself for teaching district sanctioned curriculum. And no, I'm not an off-the-wall individual; I'm an award-winning educator.

I'm also the Organizing Chair for the Cy-Fair Federation of Teachers AFT in Cypress, Texas. As such, I have a broader picture of the treatment of Texas teachers and of those who support teachers. For instance, this should raise a few eyebrows . . . . At the beginning of this 2007-2008 school year, Carmen Mayorga, President of Aldine AFT and mother of three young children, was arrested and jailed for trying to distribute membership information to new educators in Aldine, Texas. In the Aldine Independent School District, located just outside of Houston, teacher professional organizations are banned from school property. This, too, is not out-of-the-ordinary.

I am not familiar with the specifics of Mr. Tierce's situation, but I question why he is on administrative leave when he has not been charged with any wrong doing. However, the idea that students have to "hide" armbands and meet in "secret" is far more disturbing than Of Mice and Men, Huck Finn, or Catcher in the Rye.

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