A note about Donna from Cheryl Fries

Friends,

I first met Donna Howard when I was teaching at Westlake High School and she
was a member of the Eanes ISD School Board. The course I and three other
teachers had developed, a sophomore study of world literature and world
history called “Global Voices,” had drawn the ire of the radical right’s
Eagle Forum. This minority of organized and very vocal women took us before
the board under the allegation that we were “turning children against their
parents” by teaching non-Western writers (like Nobel Prize winners Chinua
Achebe and Gabriel Garcia Marquez) and non-EuroAmerican cultures. It was a
frightening and dark time for us. If not for the calm, strong, and reasoned
leadership of Donna Howard on the EISD School Board, I am sure the
curriculum would have been censored and believe our jobs could have been on
the line. But because Donna took the lead in advocating the importance of
wide scholarship and freedom from censorship at Westlake High School, free
thought prevailed. As a result, our students left tenth grade with a wider
understanding of the world in which we live, including surveys of major
world religions and sacred texts. A few years later, on September 11, 2001,
we all saw just how small that world is.

My advocacy of Donna Howard is based on personal experience. I know that she
not only acts with the courage of her convictions, but also with the calm
leadership necessary to effectively translate those convictions into a
consensus policy. Moreover, I know that what drove her during “my” battle
for free thought was not allegiance to me, but something far greater–her
complete dedication to the importance of public education. For these
reasons, I rejoice at the announcement below that Donna Howard is a
candidate for Texas State Representative in District 48.

Donna Howard’s future seat is currently held by Todd Baxter, whose election
was funded in part by the illegal money raised by Tom Delay and funneled
through the Texas Association of Business lobby. Baxter represented District
48 during the recent series of legislative special sessions which resulted
in zero solutions for the Texas school financing crisis. Baxter’s only claim
to fame was his introduction of legislation that would weaken school
districts’ accountability to the public by weakening Open Records Act
requirements, a bill so blatantly wrong that it never even made it out of
committee. He’s not right for 48. But Donna Howard is.

Donna Howard has both a wide knowledge base and a long history of community
service, as a critical-care nurse, an expert in health education, a board
member of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, Common Cause, the Texas
Freedom Network, and Expanding Horizons Foundation, which supports
low-income housing. And, as I mentioned, as an Eanes Independent School
Board member, where she gained the lifelong support of this English teacher.

Please join me in supporting Donna’s race in any way you can, and spread the
word. Donna Howard will make a difference for District 48 and for Texas.

Thanks,

Cheryl Fries