Racist comment is on video
Regarding “Cy-Fair ISD trustee's comments on Black teachers spark accusations of racism,” ( Jan. 12): Texas requires me and other childless taxpayers to finance the education of strangers’ children — including those of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board member Scott Henry. The political rationale for this, and one which I support, is that our shared society is better off when education is a widely available public good funded from the common treasury. As such, part of Henry’s charge is to manage a socialized service subsidized for him, and other families, by citizens whose interest in education extends beyond their own homes. However, Henry seems to believe schools are a business where parents like him are full-paying customers with an exclusive right to whatever they want and however they want it.
Both as a taxpayer who wholly supports public education and as a voter asked to ratify the school board’s authority through the ballot, I would like to see local children learn about diversity in ways that they may not be learning at home — especially likely in Henry’s household. I would like him, as an elected official, to understand why the district he was actually elected to manage has a drop-out rate for students of color (two-thirds of Cy-Fair’s total) that is two to three times higher than for the district’s white students. At the very least, I want him to make earnest attempts to understand disparate educational outcomes in Cy-Fair ISD and end his racist comparisons to districts over which he has neither authority nor purview.
Brian Gaither, Cypress
Regarding “Cy-Fair ISD board members apologize for trustee Scott Henry's remarks on Black teachers,” ( Jan. 13): I continue to be flabbergasted at how many Republican elected public officials, taking their cue from Trump, are willing to blatantly lie in the face of obvious facts confirming their lie. Scott Henry now denies making the statements that are clearly recorded on video, and says anyone who claims he made the statements is lying. Really? The camera is lying for political reasons? By the way, I wonder if Henry actually has any idea what critical race theory (which I don’t believe is being taught in any high schools in CFISD) is about?
Tom Hix, Houston
As a white male teacher who has taught and coached in Third Ward, Fifth Ward, Heights, Spring Branch ISD and in a private school, it is unfathomable that the race of a teacher determines the dropout rate of the students in schools. To even imply such a thing Scott Henry shows his lack of understanding of educational and racial issues, as well as his fear of the shifting demographics in this country.
Dave Jantzen, Spring Branch
While we are teaching transgender rights and critical race theory in our schools, the Chinese are teaching math, science and U.S. English. They are also teaching communist control of everything and everybody.
Mike Burkett, Cypress