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

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