A Texas Teacher Response
On September 11, 2001, I distinctly remembered standing in a bright but gloomy school hallway comforting a colleague. She expressed her fear of our school, community, and the country becoming a target against those whose hearts fill with hate. Watching the Twin Towers fall on television and then having to explain this horrific event to our students was beyond incomprehensible. Yet, 9/11 was something you couldn’t ignore and continue school as usual because our students had questions. We didn’t have all the answers, but we needed to explain what was happening in our world, creating a teachable moment.
As an educator who has served her community for a little over two decades, I am more than qualified to write this piece and share the daily grief, frustration, and utter disappointment Texas teachers face. Teaching is indeed a ministry, and although our pay is dismal, the main reason most of us come back to this career field is for the students. When you significantly impact children’s lives, this reward is immeasurable and given back through blessings that only God can give.
But on May 24, 2022, while sitting in a faculty meeting, we learned of another Texas school shooting that has rocked us to our core. And not to lessen the impact of the shooting last week on May 20, 2022, when innocent victims lost their lives at a Tops Grocery store in a predominately Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, this latest tragedy has us all thinking about when is enough, enough? According to an article by the Texas Tribune, the great State of Texas has endured eight mass shootings within a 13-year timeframe. So no wonder all this week, I found myself becoming emotional or wanting to cry at the drop of a hat. We’re all grieving.
The students, teachers, and the community of Uvalde, Texas, were failed miserably by their local law enforcement. Reports have distinctly discovered that Uvalde police reacted 45 minutes too late to save more lives than were lost in Robb Elementary. These precious children and teachers sacrificed themselves because the police failed to move swiftly to stop an intruder from carrying out a massacre. I have no words to explain how and why someone would allow this to happen. This act is genuinely incomprehensible yet a sad teachable moment.
The Robb Elementary tragedy is a little too close for comfort as we all realize those students and teachers could have been either of us in the education profession. This year alone, I am thankful for our staff and district police who stopped a possible shooting on our campus, as they found a weapon in a car a few yards away from the building. One of our students brought the gun as a possible attempt of retaliation due to an altercation incident earlier that day.
Educators shouldn’t have to worry if they’ll be able to make it back home alive after a long and arduous school day, and the fact that we do is insane. It’s as if educators should have a disclaimer in their contract stating the dangers that could occur while on the job. We didn’t initially sign up for this additional trauma when all we want to do is educate our students and give them the best possible opportunities for success. Instead, we’re living in a third-world country within one specific state.
Learning that all of the extra efforts my family and friends took to complete gun training and receive our license to carry a handgun in Texas would not have as much weight as before has stunned us. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1927, which became law on September 1, 2021, allowing Texas residents the right to carry a handgun in a holster publicly without a license. And what’s strikingly odd is that you must be 21-years-old to carry a handgun; however, the minimum age to carry a rifle or long handgun is 18-years-old.
Training and education are no longer a priority to carrying a gun, and the Wild Wild West continually makes its mark in our present reality. And yet I, as a Texas educator, had to attend a training in which I learned how to effectively treat and stop a bleeding wound to prevent someone from dying. My colleagues and I had to step in front of a trainee as they watched us one by one stuff gauze inside a mock human leg to ensure the person would not bleed to death. That training stuck with me as I often drive around in my car thinking about how I will remember this in a crisis? In all honesty, the practice drills schools complete every month are essential. However, no one knows where they will be and how they will react at that very moment if and when an intruder is present.
Some would argue that Texas teachers should go on strike to demand change and bring about new laws that would ensure our safety. Did you know that we could lose our retirement and teaching license if Texas teachers were to go on strike? Therefore we understand how some students across the state and country use their voices to demand change and schedule walkouts. However, if we truly believe the children are our future, why do we trust them to purchase an assault rifle but deem them incompetent to select a book? It’s the audacity to govern the bookshelves in a school library yet not ensure the safety of students and teachers who sit in their classrooms or walk around on their campus for me. I never thought I would see the day when a library book would be considered a weapon against our youth versus a firearm.
And I close with this, every year, the Texas Education Agency mandates schools in our state to complete standardized testing via the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test to better gauge students’ comprehension levels in various subjects grade levels. Students who do not pass a specific grade/subject STAAR test must be retained and cannot move forward to the next level, and teachers are held accountable if a majority of their students do not pass the exam.
On Tuesday, November 8, 2022, it’s time for Texans to assess the leadership of our state officials via our State of Texas Assessments of Administration Readiness (STAAR) governmental test and retain the elected leaders that have held us back for far too long. Governor Greg Abbott and many of his Republican colleagues continually show us that they are no longer interested in hearing the cries of Texans. When an elected official stands ten toes down and is more dedicated to their political party than the people and lives they serve, it’s time for a change. We must ensure the humanity and safety of our children and teachers across the state and country to help save the lives of future generations to come. Texas cannot afford to allow this teachable moment to pass us by again. We now know that they won’t save our children because they’re too busy saving themselves.
I send my deepest condolences and love to the families and friends who lost a loved one in the Robb Elementary tragedy. My prayers will continually lift the Uvalde, Texas, community during this time of grief. May these courageous students and teachers Rest in Power.
About the Author: Angela Cherise has won numerous awards in the field of education including Houston ISD Librarian of the Year, Texas Library Association Branding Award winner, Microsoft Innovative Educator Top Texas Representative, Campus Teacher of the Year, and a Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers Award recipient.
