A third-grade teacher was fired from her job this spring. Sophia DeLoretto-Chudy, a first-year teacher at Becker Elementary in Austin, Texas, was called into a meeting with the school’s vice principal in March. and there were three main items of concern.
Fox 7 in Austin reported that the administration was unhappy that DeLoretto-Chudy had not returned emails in a timely fashion. I can actually get on board with that one. In the corporate world, I was beset by emails, messages, and notices which I frequently returned when I got around to doing so. Not completely professional, true, but as an older person, my mind was usually on my work.
Another of DeLoretto-Chudy’s transgressions was using the Harry Potter series in the classroom. That’s also a bit of “meh’ for me as well. The books were entertaining, and before J.K. Rowling was branded as a “TERF,” the series was lauded for helping children to become excited about reading. But I do understand the concern.
When I lived in Texas, a pastor told me that the state is part of the Bible Belt, so some parents may have been worried about the aspects of witchcraft and wizardry. Those concerns aside, the books do carry some dark themes about death and loss, which might be a little difficult for third-graders. I was in my 40s when my mother sent me a copy of the first installment. I had a little life experience by the time I laid eyes on it.
The last item is a bit more interesting. During a school assembly, DeLoretto-Chudy’s students declined to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. DeLoretto-Chudy went home and vented her spleen via TikTok. The post went viral, and DeLoretto-Chudy went on the unemployment line for violating the district’s social media policies. According to the teacher, the incident had its roots in her lessons on the Holocaust, a subject that is required to be taught in Texas. Deloretto-Chudy claims that the students drew parallels between nationalism and propaganda, a discussion that caused the students to decide to protest the Pledge. The teacher says that the principal did not buy her story.
It is certainly a discussion worth having. But there is one hole in DeLoretto-Chudy’s claim that the students decided to protest. If you have ever met a third grader or if you have ever been a third grader, you know their minds don’t work like that, at least not without help.
I was listening to an interview with James Lindsay yesterday, in which Lindsay was telling Ben Shapiro how the woke propagandists have instructed teachers on how to turn a word problem into a social justice screed. It is also reminiscent of all of those Tier-II media figures who tweet that their children are asking them incredibly complex and deeply thoughtful questions about abortion and climate change. Let’s be honest: DeLoretto-Chudy saw an opening and took her shot. Can’t blame a progressive for trying.
In the end, DeLoretto-Chudy was not concerned if her vice principal believed her, and she did not care if the parents or the district believed her or if her young charges even fully understood what she was trying to impart. Besides planting progressive seeds, she wanted to be sure that her TikTok followers believed her and that the news media believed her.
I’ve read several versions of the story, and it looks like the media is indeed behind her. And she also wants to make sure that the people who show up at the next school board meeting with chants, rainbow flags, and signs protesting Christian Nationalism, fascism, racism, and whatever other “isms” that are currently in vogue believe her.
And they will. Let’s hope the parents of the Austin Independent School District take it seriously as well.
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