My Dear Colleagues and Friends,
I write to bid you many blessings from God on this, my last official day of service as the Texas Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Statewide Initiative Coordinator. I do not write this to depart making a scene (as has been popular lately in the news), but rather to reiterate the important themes that I have tried to incorporate throughout my service as Texas SDFSC Statewide Initiative Coordinator, and will continue in my next line of work.
I have known from the start of my work with the initiative, that funding was on a significant decreasing pattern. At times, it seemed as if I were steering a sinking ship, trying to find a safe place to land. However, I believe that much has been accomplished due to the hard work, passion, and dedication of so many people throughout our great state! First of all, I give thanks and full credit to all the current and former SDFSC Specialists at each of the 20 ESCs around Texas: Clara Contreras – ESC 1; Bill Stein, Pam Faulkner (previous SDSFC SI Coordinator), and John Harris – ESC 2; Cheryl Shamburger – ESC 3; Sherri McCord – ESC 4; Sherrie Thomas and Nelda Brown – ESC 5; Janice Burke and Rod Hanks – ESC 6; Gay Dunn, Dirje Smith, and Cinda Farrell – ESC 7; Tiffany Easley and Jill Luker – ESC 8; David Gordon – ESC 9; Linda Tinsley and Cynthia Small – ESC 10, Mariette Burt and Barney Fudge – ESC 11; Todd Overpeck and Nancy Cross – ESC 12; Leah Waheed and Marci Godbee – ESC 13; Rod Pruitt – ESC 14; Louann Cate – ESC 15; Susan Smith – ESC 16; Sheri Sowder and Bill Whitehead – ESC 17; Andy Sustaita, Denise Rives, and Elizabeth Garza – ESC 18; Donna Juarez, Roina Baquera-Shaw, and Klaus Hille - ESC 19; Lucien Costley – ESC 20; and Carolyn Smyrl, SDFSC Program Administrator at TEA. Their dedication and expertise in the areas of drug and violence prevention has been a tremendous asset, as they’ve all known so much about what they were doing – and they have performed above and beyond their duties so well!
I also give thanks for my colleagues at the Texas School Safety Center (TXSSC - http://www.txssc.txstate.edu/K12/). The TXSSC has grown into a premier agency through many difficult times and trials. Their leadership is one that I am relieved to know will remain in our state for the future, after the SDFSC Title IV Program ends. In particular I am grateful to Curtis Clay, Billy Jacobs, Cynthia Arredondo, and Dwight Stewart. The confidence that the ESCs Directors and their SDFSC Specialists have developed in the TXSSC over the past many years has been based strongly on the personal relationships formed, hard work performed, and trust developed by these four TXSSC administrators and their colleagues. It is my high recommendation and hope that these relationships will be able to continue beyond this era of uncertainty, in order to keep the Texas School Safety Center headed in a positive direction. Their leadership is critical now more than ever, given the questionable path that the federal Safe and Drug Free Schools program is currently heading.
As mentioned earlier, I have long been aware that funding for SDFSC was being cut more each year, and I have been attempting to predict and prepare our Statewide Initiative for a future transition. Many of our SDFSC staff around the state have been hopeful that an increase in funding would come, along with a change in direction of the SDFSC office. The new administration has indeed cut the states’ Title IV grants to zero. but a new and unfortunate direction of the program has been unveiled. One year ago, the Obama administration appointed Kevin Jennings as the new head of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. In the USDoE’s press release on this appointment, dated May 19, 2009 (http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/education-secretary-announces-nine-senior-staff-appointments), the very first words on this matter were, “Kevin Jennings is the founder and former executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an organization that works to make schools safe for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.” GLSEN is a homosexual activist network that has been responsible for the controversial national “Day of Silence” and many disturbing promotions of the homosexual lifestyle. For more in-depth information and research on Kevin Jennings’ past activities, please click on the following document link from the Family Research Council: http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF09F60.pdf. For more information on the present direction of the office of SDFSC, click on the following recent article link from Focus on the Family Affiliate, CitizenLink: http://www.citizenlink.com/2010/08/deceptive-anti-bullying-act-introduced-in-u-s-senate-pushed-by-gay-activists/ . I will not go into further details, but I ask that you do the research on this one.
One year ago, I had the opportunity to meet Kevin Jennings at the National SDFSC Conference. I expressed my concern, as a representative of many who feel the same way, that this is a critical time for our nation and its schools. I emphasized this by highlighting the following problems: terrorists actively planning attacks on our schools; pandemic influenza scares; multiple shootings and violent attacks by aggressors from within and outside schools; rampant bullying and cyber bullying; prevalent drug use; students’ suicidal, self-harming, and risk-taking behaviors; and gang infiltration, just to mention some. I emphasized that now is definitely not the time to divide America over such a controversial issue as promotion of the homosexual lifestyle in our schools. Rather, we must be united in our stand and provide equal protection to all students and staff, and not emphasize any one particular group over another for special protection. I stated that all human beings deserve human dignity and respect, and that all students should be safe and protected equally in school. While his response at the time was in agreement with my point for equal protection for all students in school, some information promoted and disseminated at the conference, and federal activities since, have not been so encouraging.
During one session presented by PFLAG, the presenters were expressing that all states must enact legislation that specifically calls for special protection for those who are homosexual and transgendered. And, when asked why they are opposed to bullying-prevention legislation that is all-encompassing for every student, the presenters from PFLAG stated that such legislation is not worth having at all, since it does not provide adequate protection for homosexuals and transgendered students. Through my multiple meetings at the start of the conference, I expressed the concern that the federal administration was just waiting for a significant school crisis to occur in order to actively push forward the aforementioned agenda. Some expressed doubt in my concerns. However, this was soon confirmed in a conference general session presentation by Arne Duncan, the United States Secretary of Education, when he quoted the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, stating “Never waste a good crisis!” Mr. Duncan thought that this answer to a participant’s question was amusing, however I was not laughing.
I pray that independent school districts and government representatives in Texas will now do what is right by properly allocating state and local funding towards the goal of school safety, without reliance upon funds from our federal government that will certainly have morally objectionable requirements. The Texas Unified School Safety Standards that have recently been developed and ratified by our state (http://www.txssc.txstate.edu/K12/standards) must now guide the way towards school safety activities and funding in the future. And I repeat, I believe all human beings deserve human dignity and respect, and that all students should be safe and protected equally in school.
It is my strong belief that we must not expose our children to things that they are not developmentally ready to absorb. Kids are saturated so early with messages of sexuality, drugs, and violence from many sources these days. We are quickly erasing any age of innocence in our children, and the consequences from this are immediately being felt in our society. The belief that “they are going to do it anyway” needs to disappear, and be replaced with a set of high expectations for all children in all aspects of behavior. Time and time again the proof can be seen in real life examples – children will rise to the set of expectations placed upon them, either low or high. The best path to prevention of risky and damaging behaviors is through setting the clear and consistent high expectation of abstinence: from substance use, from violence, and from sexual relations before marriage. Chaste relations before marriage between one man and one woman, who subsequently remain faithful and united for life in marriage, are the proper foundation for a family. This Natural Law is written on the human heart by God and is the best situation for the proper development of children. God’s Natural Law is not designed to be a strict set of rules and a restriction of our freedom. Rather, it is designed to guide everyone on the path to becoming who we are called to be. No amount of wealth, fame, instant gratification, and power can replace the peace that comes from understanding and living according to God’s Natural Law. One illustration of this can be seen in the children’s book, Tootle, by Gertrude Crampton. Tootle loved to jump free from the train tracks and chase butterflies and race horses, but this never helped Tootle accomplish what he was designed to do. Tootle learned through the help of others, that only when we stay on the tracks (God’s Natural Law placed in all human hearts, for my example) are we then indeed truly free to become the best that we were designed to be.
I recently attended the Texas School Safety Center’s School Based Law Enforcement Conference in Corpus Christi. Through this conference, I had a realization that is personally helping me transition from my current job as SDFSC Statewide Coordinator to the one that I will next hold. In this conference Phil Chalmers gave us a clear picture of the evil that exists in our world, and how it is affecting our children. Phil’s presentation is based on his book, Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer (http://www.philchalmers.com/index.php). I later attended a session that lifted my spirits in my fight against this evil when I learned about the struggles in urban street gangs in Chicago. Through Brother Jim Fogarty and his ministry, Brothers and Sisters of Love (http://www.brothersandsistersoflove.com/pdf/BrotherJim.pdf), I was reminded to never be afraid and that through God, all things are possible. Lastly, I heard from Scott Huse (http://www.thesafeteam.com/home/) and from Jerry Tello (http://www.jerrytello.com/) on the importance of family involvement in the proper development of a child’s life. Through this conference, I realized that not only have I tried to emphasize all these things throughout my years as a SDFSC Coordinator, I will be doing these exact same things in my future employment, as well.
Just as I believe that I was called by God to work with the SDFSC Statewide Initiative for a specific purpose, I also believe that I am being called out for a similar purpose. I am now the President of a local non-profit agency, The RED-C Apostolate: Religious Education for the Domestic Church. The Catholic Church calls the family the Domestic Church, as it is through the family where the call to holiness and apostolic mission are first heard, and where the response to that call is encouraged and directed. As a part of our apostolate’s mission, I will be the director for a Catholic Radio station in the Bryan/College Station area: RED-C Catholic Radio – KEDC 88.5 FM. You can find my contact information and more about the apostolate and station at our website: http://www.redcapostolate.org/. If you are interested in having Catholic Radio in your area, please contact me and I would be glad to be of assistance. Through my continued work in following God’s call, I pray that I can be effectively used for His purposes to spread the Good News and to promote family values in the times ahead.
I sincerely thank each of you for your tremendous dedication and service! I will continue to keep you in my prayers for protection and strength as you continue to fight the good fight towards the betterment of Texas schools, communities, and families.
Sincerely,
Dennis R. Macha, Jr.
Texas SDFSC Statewide Initiative Coordinator