Katy ISD Superintendent, Alton Frailey playing defense after his district makes national news this week when 7th grade student, Jordan Wooley exposes her teacher Angelica Silguero’s bias to a belief in God. Ms. Silguero instructed her classes that students could not prove God was real and if they recorded it as such on their paper their grade would be lowered.
An upset Jordan texted her mom during class time the following:
A brave Jordan confronted the Katy ISD school board Monday night defending her faith and right to claim God’s existence. Tuesday morning and through out the remainder of the day Jordan’s story had hit the media airways.
School administrations detest bad press coverage and after the fact Superintendent Frailey held a press Wednesday marginalizing Jordan’s claims.
The district sent out this document to parents clarifying their stance on the controversy.
Below is a mothers rebuttal to Alton Frailey’s defense of the school and the teachers actions. This concerned mother had a son in one of Ms. Silguero’s language classes that required them to complete the same 21st Century “critical thinking” assignment where there are no absolute truths.
Oct 28, 2015
My reaction to the KISD communication sent out to parents titled “Katy ISD Superintendent Shares Results of Investigation on West Memorial Junior High Incident during Press Conference.”
I am glad that Mr. Frailey stated that no student from KISD will have their faith denounced. Unfortunately, that already happened in class on Monday the 26th.
1. “The teacher did not ask students at any point to deny God and the statements of the 11 students interviewed, including the student cited by the media, further corroborate that.” – That is a lie. The teacher is the one who gave the assignment. She is the one that said if they put any answer other than myth for “There is a God”, they will get it wrong. That made the students have to choose between their faith, and what they know is true, and not missing the question on the assignment which would then affect their grade. How is that NOT asking them to deny God??!! And interviewing 11 students out of 8 class periods is enough to corroborate a story? How were those children picked? Did they speak to all parents that complained? I complained (her letter to school below) and have never been contacted by the school.
2. “The activity was not graded, nor was it ever intended to be graded. The teacher’s lesson plan also indicated that this was independent work. Statements from multiple, randomly selected students support the teacher’s statement that she never indicated that this activity would be graded nor did the teacher indicate that it would be a test.” – Again, this is a lie. If this was intended to be “independent work” then why was there class discussion and why would they need to say that the teacher welcomed all students’ views? If this was never intended to be for a grade, then why did the students feel pressured like my son to change his answer so his grade would not suffer? My son clearly thought it was for a grade, especially after she said that if they put anything other than myth they will get it wrong, which is what compelled him to change his answer!
3. “No other teachers at WMJH used this activity in class. The teacher in question, did however, use this with her earlier classes on Oct 26th”. – I should hope no other teachers would demonstrate such poor judgment. However, does this mean that no department head needed to approve an assignment that a new teacher independently created? Why was there no oversight at all? Clearly, this demonstrates that more oversight on teacher written assignments is needed.
4. “According to the teacher and other students interviewed, the teacher did not use the word ‘myth.’ She asked the students to participate in a class activity in which they were to identify whether statements were a fact, opinion, or commonplace assertion. – Again, a complete lie. I thought the same thing when I heard about the assignment and saw a copy of it and saw the word commonplace assertion…..I immediately wondered how the word “myth” entered into the conversation. I asked my son what he was told the directions for the assignment were. He told me that they were to say if each statement was a fact, opinion, or myth. I told him that it says “Commonplace Assertion” on the paper so where does “myth” come into it? He replied that they did not know what that meant and asked the teacher and she said the definition of commonplace assertion is myth! She absolutely did use the word myth in class. Then, when working on the assignment and getting to #2 and discussion started, she again used the word myth. My son said she specifically said that they can put F or O but that anything other than myth is wrong.
5. “According to student statements, the activity did not result in any arguments in the classroom. The teacher welcomed all students’ views. – I will concede that no students in the 4th period class argued with her. My son said they were too afraid to say anything or to argue with her. In fact, I am just finding out after this incident that this teacher warned the students at the beginning of the year that she has a “dark side” and they don’t want to see that side of her come out. So, my son specifically said that he was not about to question her when she challenged that he put fact on the question. She had already intimidated some, including my son, to the point that they felt they could not speak freely on their views. How exactly did she foster an environment of welcoming ideas and views when she had already intimidated them?
6. “The school principal immediately investigated the incident and determined that the classroom activity included an item that was unnecessary for achieving the instructional standard. – How about she violated state law by including God in a public school assignment? I thought we were not allowed to pray? I thought we were not allowed to call parties in December Christmas parties? Remember the whole God does not belong in public school mantra that is being pushed everywhere? It was more than unnecessary! She violated our kids’ constitutional rights by asserting that God is only a myth. No child should have been subjected to such stress in a public classroom.
7. “The teacher-developed activity is no longer being used by the teacher in question or the campus and appropriate personnel action has been taken. – I understand that this was a teacher based activity which is why she is responsible for the assignment going out to the class. Obviously the district did not want to take responsibility for any oversight so I see why they are calling it a teacher developed activity since they assert that she designed and wrote the assignment. That is exactly why parents are upset with the teacher. We are not “vilifying” her. We are taking the district at their word that this was the responsibility of the teacher because she came up with the assignment, and we disagree with the assignment, how it was handled in class by the teacher, and have a right to protest and complain when we do not agree. It is our children that we are talking about here. We should be involved in their education.
This mother has emailed her son’s principal the following two emails and as of today received no response.
Dear Mrs. Cobb: I just found out about Jordan Wooley’s story today. My son is not in Jordan’s class but does have Mrs. Silguero for 4th period and had the same assignment. I am VERY UPSET that she instructed that God is only a myth!!! How dare she interfere in the religious education of my son!!!!! I understand from the email from the district that Mrs. Silguero is distraught by the incident. Quite frankly, she should be because I am too! Those of us who are upset by this are NOT vilifying her or judging her. I could care less what religion she is. The point is she really crossed the line with this assignment, period, and it has really upset many students and parents!! She had no right telling our students that God is a myth!!! She had no right bringing that up in a junior high school assignment. Now if she had allowed free thought and opinions on it there may have been a different outcome However, that is not what she did. Even in my son’s class, she instructed them that God can only be a myth!!!! I will be watching each and every assignment even more closely from here on. I understand we have removed God from our schools and institutions….why everyone is surprised with our current state of society is beyond me….we have done it to ourselves!! Regardless of my thoughts on that though, my son’s beliefs should not have been put in jeopardy, his and other student’s grades should not be in jeopardy, and I am beyond mad that she told them God is only myth regardless of whether threatening them with a failing grade is true or not. It is still horrible!!!! I understand that she has been reprimanded and the assignment will no longer be a part of the lesson plan. I just needed the school to know that more than just Jordan’s parents are irate!!! These days Christians are being persecuted left and right. It will NOT happen in my son’s school or we will find another school….simple as that. Katy has been excellent in the past and I hope this trend continues. ~A concerned Mom. (name removed)
I carefully read the response that KISD sent out to the parents regarding this ill-conceived assignment. I take issue with a few of the assertions in the letter.
First, I am not aware of anyone “vilifying” the teacher. We are complaining that she had very poor judgment and did something wrong which is very true but I do not know of anyone attacking the teacher personally. I think “vilify” is much too strong of a word for this case and is nothing short of misleading.
Secondly, if we are going to leave religion out of the classrooms then leave her religion out of it. However, since the district felt it necessary to bring up that she is Christian, I am left with the response of….Really??!! A Christian that denies God is real? Does KISD really want to go there? This makes it look like the district is lying. Bad call there.
Third, the district is asserting that this assignment was an “ungraded activity.” That is not true. The students, including my son, were very aware that the assignment was to be graded and were worried about getting this answer wrong and having to choose between their faith and getting the answer correct. If it were truly just for discussion then the paper would not have been required to be turned in.
Lastly, it was asserted that the activity would no longer be used by the school yet the assignment went out to more students on Tuesday. If the investigation into this situation started immediately after the complaints lodged on Monday the 26th, then why in the world would something questionable be handed out again??!! That was a very bad call.
If all religious beliefs are really and truly welcome at WMJH, then this assignment would have never made it off the drawing board so to speak and the teacher would have never told all her classes that God is only a myth. I expect more guidance to be given to the teachers regarding what is and is not acceptable when they have the freedom to design assignments on their own. I also expect this teacher to apologize for the confusion and stress she placed our children under. The district should apologize as well. I understand that mistakes, bad judgment, etc can happen but when it does we must own it and deal with it in an honest and correct manner. Regardless of anyone’s beliefs, these children were told something that was against theirs and they deserve an apology, period.
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Parents have such power today with online news media outlets in exposing the bias or mistreatment of their children within a school district. I found it amazing that within 24 hours Jordan’s story was known across the world. Parents need to wake up and stay involved. The education reform taking place today in Texas classrooms is not geared towards their childs academic success but towards “social, emotional learning” also known as 21st Century Learning.
Victor Skinner,
