October 3, 2006--Dallas Fig Leaf
Danger is lurking everywhere—not just at airport check-in counters or in subways, but even at the Dallas Museum of Art. That is because among the 26,000 items in its collection there are representations of nudes! Yes of naked people. Some even from as long ago as 330 B.C.
Into this den of pornography a highly-regarded, veteran art teacher brought her 5th grade class. She had taught for 28 years, is a fourth generation Texan, and had done all that was required to have the class trip approved, including securing the signature of the principal. In fact, she and her students were accompanied by four other teachers and 12 parents. (See NY Times story linked below.)
I write about Ms. McGee in the past tense because as a result of the trip she was suspended with pay and has been informed that her contract for next year is not being renewed. She has also been told that she is not eligible to be transferred to another school in the Frisco, Texas district.
One student complained. The first among more than 1,000 Frisco students and parents who have been on similar school trips. The principal, of course, Nancy Lawson, says that there is more at issue than that one complaint about students being compelled to view nude statues—that Ms. McGee had not “used time wisely for learning during the trip.” I imagine because the kids wasted so much of it while giggling and drooling.
But there is more. In the same letter of dismissal, Principal Lawson faulted Ms. McGee for not exhibiting enough student art on her classroom walls and, worse, that she “wore flip-flops to work.”
It is no surprise that this scandal has been topping the news in Frisco--perhaps even bumping off the air interviews with Bob Woodward. To make their case, and who knows maybe even to titillate viewers, local TV stations have been broadcasting images of the blasphemous works, careful to be sure to black out the offending anatomical parts.
It is, though, good to know that Principal Lawson is protecting children from such filth. Maybe she should be brought in as a consultant to the Congressional Page Program in Washington.
It is also comforting to know that she has arranged for Michelangelo’s David to bypass the Dallas Museum during its next trip to America.
Into this den of pornography a highly-regarded, veteran art teacher brought her 5th grade class. She had taught for 28 years, is a fourth generation Texan, and had done all that was required to have the class trip approved, including securing the signature of the principal. In fact, she and her students were accompanied by four other teachers and 12 parents. (See NY Times story linked below.)
I write about Ms. McGee in the past tense because as a result of the trip she was suspended with pay and has been informed that her contract for next year is not being renewed. She has also been told that she is not eligible to be transferred to another school in the Frisco, Texas district.
One student complained. The first among more than 1,000 Frisco students and parents who have been on similar school trips. The principal, of course, Nancy Lawson, says that there is more at issue than that one complaint about students being compelled to view nude statues—that Ms. McGee had not “used time wisely for learning during the trip.” I imagine because the kids wasted so much of it while giggling and drooling.
But there is more. In the same letter of dismissal, Principal Lawson faulted Ms. McGee for not exhibiting enough student art on her classroom walls and, worse, that she “wore flip-flops to work.”
It is no surprise that this scandal has been topping the news in Frisco--perhaps even bumping off the air interviews with Bob Woodward. To make their case, and who knows maybe even to titillate viewers, local TV stations have been broadcasting images of the blasphemous works, careful to be sure to black out the offending anatomical parts.
It is, though, good to know that Principal Lawson is protecting children from such filth. Maybe she should be brought in as a consultant to the Congressional Page Program in Washington.
It is also comforting to know that she has arranged for Michelangelo’s David to bypass the Dallas Museum during its next trip to America.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
10:23 AM
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