Dallas, TX
Letters to the Editor — Reading academies, striking dancers, Dallas Cowboys, health care
Texas has reading program
Re: “Texas must invest in early reading,” by Bill Hammond, Monday Opinion.
Hammond, a former Texas state representative, chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, writes about the need to bring reading academies to Texas. He based that on the miracle in Mississippi, where reading academies have helped elevate reading scores for the last several years.
In fact, Texas does have a Reading Academy requirement. House Bill 3, passed during the 86th Texas Legislature, established the requirement that all teacher candidates who teach students in grades pre-K-6 demonstrate proficiency in the science of teaching reading on a new, standalone certification exam.
This includes principals and elementary math and science teachers as well. This requirement took effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
Knowing this, I urge Mr. Hammond to ask a different question now. Has there been an impact on reading since the RA requirement was implemented? The “Mississippi Miracle” may be happening already in Texas.
Unfortunately, those of us in the education business know that any new curriculum takes more than a year or two to be fully embraced by teachers and then effectively implemented.
Rebecca Good, Allen
Continue backing dancers
Re: “Backers rally for fired dancers,” Monday Metro story.
Elizabeth Myong did a fine job of covering the rally for the fired Dallas Black Dance Theatre dancers, and it was wonderful to see the solidarity from labor, retirees and the community at large. Labor and civil rights struggles are not won in a single day, though. All of us must continue backing the dancers until they prevail, and I’m sure we will.
Gene Lantz, Dallas
Believe the truth, too
Re: “Whatever happened to telling the truth? As King taught me, our nation must relearn the danger of lies,” by Peter Johnson, Sunday Opinion.
Johnson wrote about the importance of lies. And truth. I’d like to share another level of thought concerning the human condition. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck wrote: “An unbelieved truth can hurt a man much more than a lie.” I offer this truth as an addendum to Johnson’s writing.
Tom Agase, Highland Village
A dual stand on abortion
Re: “Many women oppose abortion,” by Keith Bernard Marx, Wednesday Letters.
You can be a woman who wants control over her own body and still be anti-abortion.
Mindy Vinton, Dallas/Oak Lawn
Substance behind dog whistle
Re: “There’s the dog whistle,” by Holly Skaggs, Sunday Letters.
In response to this letter, it’s important to clarify that while the GOP campaigns may not explicitly use the term “Christian nationalism,” the ideology is evident in their rhetoric and policies. Donald Trump, for example, has made several statements that align with Christian nationalist themes, such as promising to combat anti-Christian bias with a federal task force and framing political struggles as spiritual battles.
Moreover, at the Texas GOP convention, leaders pushed for policies promoting Christian values, like mandatory Bible teachings in public schools, which is a clear example of Christian nationalism in practice, even if the term isn’t used directly.
Dismissing this as mere journalistic bias ignores the real connections between current GOP rhetoric and Christian nationalist ideology. The claim that “Christian nationalism” is simply a “dog whistle” accusation overlooks these substantive issues.
Alan D. Bryan, Richardson
Cowboys grow with mediocrity
Re: “Team is league’s 1st valued at over $10B — Franchise is worth over $2.5B more than Rams, No. 2 on Sportico list,” Aug. 14 news story.
Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 for $150 million. Today, the franchise is worth more than $10 billion. Without a doubt, Jones is an amazing businessman. He had great success in the early years with Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. Since then, he has nothing to brag about. There is no incentive when your assets are growing exponentially with a mediocre product.
It is time for Jerry Jones to take a page from President Joe Biden’s book and get out of football management and player negotiations. He should hire a good general manager who can take us back to the glory days of Tex Schramm and Tom Landry. He should use his newfound wealth to pay top talent and bring back championships to our community.
Rudra Nadhan, Arlington
Financial lock on Arlington
Someone please, remind me why the Dallas Cowboys (and any other professional sports franchise) need taxpayer funding to build stadiums for a private entertainment business.
I believe the Dallas Cowboys’ financial lock on Arlington is so absolute that residents who front busy streets on game days are not allowed to park fans cars and receive a few bucks lest they endanger the Cowboy parking lot monopoly.
It requires an ironic sense of humor to justify socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.
Matt Wenthold, Denton
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com
What Drake London’s new deal could mean for George Pickens
Falcons WR Drake London is now the NFL’s third-highest paid wide receiver in AAV, signing a four-year, $141 million extension with $100 million guaranteed and $35.26 million per year.
London, who is 25, is the same age as Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, and both are heading into their fifth seasons in the NFL. Pickens too was seeking a long-term contract, but the Cowboys told him and his representation that would not happen this offseason, and he instead signed his $27.3 million franchise tag that keep shim under contract for the 2026 season.
Pickens’ one-year deal on the tag makes him the 17th highest-paid wide receiver in the league in AAV. Should Pickens go out and post a year similar to his 2025 campaign where he had more than 1,400 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, a deal similar to London’s may be in the ballpark of what Pickens could seek. For reference, CeeDee Lamb is the league’s fifth-highest paid WR at $34 million annually. If Pickens surpasses him and is closer to London’s $35 million per year mark, he and Lamb would become the highest-paid WR duo in NFL history, surpassing the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who currently combine for $69 million per year. – Tommy Yarrish
The Texas Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Garland Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abby Policastro and Marissa Aulbaugh prosecuted the case.
“This verdict should send a clear message to drug dealers that we will dismantle any effort to peddle deadly fentanyl in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their dedicated collaboration in taking thousands of fentanyl pills off the streets of Dallas.”
If the Dallas Cowboys want to get over the hump and back into the playoffs in 2026, they’ve got to see a massive improvement in the defense.
Owner Jerry Jones was brutally honest with just how much the Cowboys were held back by their defense in 2025, and the numbers very clearly spell that out.
How does a Cowboys team that ranked top 10 in passing, rushing and points on offense still miss the playoffs?
Well, Dallas also ranked 30th in total yards allowed, 32nd in passing yards, 23rd against the run and 32nd in points against, that’s how. That putrid showing rightly cost Matt Eberflus his job, which set the stage for Dallas to hire Christian Parker.
It also set the stage for a total overhaul of the defense, with Dallas making many additions to that side of the ball, including at corner, where the Cowboys were bad on the boundary and in slot last season.
Fow now, we’re more focused on the boundary competition, as the Cowboys appear set to roll with Caleb Downs in the slot.
Cowboys’ CB competition is crucial for 2026
The Cowboys won’t have much hope for a playoff appearance if the cornerback play doesn’t improve. Of the 10 teams that landed in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed last season, only two of them made the postseason.
Of course, the pass-rush played a part in that, and while Dallas has made multiple additions to that group this offseason, there really aren’t any guarantees with Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence or Donovan Ezeiruaku.
If that trio fails to improve a pass-rush that was tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the NFL in 2025, the cornerbacks become even more crucial.
DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel did not play well in 2025, and while the former appears safe for now when it comes to a starting job on the outside, his leash could be short if he struggles again.
Revel, on the other hand, isn’t locked into a starting job on the boundary and is competing with Durant and Caelen Carson. It’s also worth keeping an eye on who finishes in second in that battle because that player could replace Bland if he struggles or gets hurt again.
There is hope Revel can bounce back now that he’s another year removed from the torn ACL he suffered in his final year in college and can enjoy a full offseason, but we’ll have to see it first before we can believe it.
“It’s very beneficial,” Revel said of having a normal offseason. “Just because I can clean up a lot of things, a lot of errors I didn’t see last year, or I did see last year, that I could clean up this year.”
“My knee is 100%, so now it’s time to focus on situational ball and I’ve got to see what I need to fix or get better at,” Revel added.
When training camp kicks off next month, we’re going to be locked into watching the battle at cornerback because it could very well make or break Dallas’ entire 2026 campaign.
Follow
-
Business3 minutes ago
SpaceX stock returns to Earth after record IPO
-
Entertainment8 minutes agoThis is why the Madonna biopic starring Julia Garner isn’t happening after all
-
Lifestyle15 minutes ago‘Worth every penny’: This is how much fans spent to attend the World Cup in L.A.
-
Politics18 minutes agoDemocrats want California voters to give them more flexibility over spending
-
Sports33 minutes agoDodgers game to start 30 minutes late; give updates on Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing
-
World45 minutes agoIceland kills first whales since 2023, resuming whaling
-
News1 hour agoODNI under Pulte fires 6 staff, sends 45 back to home agencies
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoAir quality concerns remain as the Boyle Heights warehouse fire continues to burn
