A Texas middle school teacher used a Dr. Seuss-style poem to attack "evangelicals" and parents who have voiced concerns about critical race theory and unsuitable books, including books parents refer to as pornographic, in schools.
Krista Tyler, instructional technology specialist at Grisham Middle School in the Round Rock Independent School District (ISD), read the poem at the Leander ISD school board meeting Dec. 16.
Parents at both the Round Rock and Leander school districts expressed outrage over Tyler's poem.
"I'm disgusted and disheartened that there are teachers in our school district who think it is OK to mock parents for their religious beliefs, and for demanding that children not have access to books in the library or classroom that have pornographic illustrations and graphic descriptions of sex acts," Dustin Clark, a father of four children in Round Rock public schools, told Fox News.
"The opinions of the teacher who recently spoke at the board meeting illustrate the utter disconnect some teachers have with their communities," one father, Orlando Salinas in Round Rock ISD, told Fox News.
Salinas said teachers "are under the impression that parents are coming to these meetings in the spirit of political divisiveness, when this is not the case."
"Parents such as myself, are increasingly participating in school board meetings because we see firsthand the detrimental effects that 'woke-ism' has had on our schools and our children," Salinas told Fox News. "In Round Rock, 8% of African-American students and 11% of Hispanic students perform math on grade level, according to the 2021 STARR Performance data. We parents are attending these meetings to challenge the status quo because the status quo is not working for our students."
Kieu Trang, a mother of four children in Round Rock ISD, said Tyler "shouldn't be teaching."
"She is trying to lump all parents who oppose pornographic books into the 'evangelicals-bigots-brainless' category that hates reading, but the fact of the matter is we are a group of very diverse, highly-concerned parents who do not want pornographic books in our schools," Trang told Fox News. "The fact that that statement came from a teacher who could be teaching my children at Round Rock ISD is very concerning."
Tyler read her poem during a period of time set aside for citizens to offer brief comments at the board meeting.
"Everyone in Leander liked reading a lot/ but some evangelicals in Leander did not," Tyler started. "These kooks hated reading, the whole reading season./ Please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason./ It could be perhaps critical thinking causes fright./ It could be their heads aren't screwed on just right./ But whatever the reason, their brains or their fright,/ they can't follow policy in plain black and white."
"These bigots don't get to choose for us, that's clear,/ Then how, I am wondering, did we even get here./ They growl at our meetings, all hawing and humming,/ ‘We must stop this indoctrination from coming!’/ They've come for the books and the bonds and what for?/ Their kids don't even attend Leander schools anymore./ Bring back our books, maintain decorum, good grief./ Wouldn't it be nice to have a meeting in peace?"
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