Advocacy and accountability key for Dallas educator who is first Black man named Texas Teacher of the Year

Dallas elementary school teacher Eric Hale believes that you don’t need to wait for Superman if you’ve got your own cape in the closet.

Hale draws on his own experiences as a Black student, saying he knows what it’s like to be “failed up” through the American education system. He wants to be a superhero for his students so they don’t have that same experience.

“I’m an advocate for the children that I know are living in poverty, that I know are living in trauma — that’s my tribe,” he said. “I refuse to sit back in that fight for them. I refuse to wait for what the district is going to give me or the state is going to give me.”

Hale believes that his emphasis on advocating for all his students, no matter what obstacles they might come across, was one of the reasons he was named the 2021 Texas Teacher of the Year, making him the first Black man ever to receive the honor.

“I’m the first, but I know for sure that I will not be the last,” Hale said.

Hale, who teaches at David G. Burnet Elementary School in northwest Dallas, will represent Texas in the National Teacher of the Year program in the spring.

The announcement was made Sept. 30 during the virtual Texas Association of School Administrators and Texas Association of School Boards Convention. As one of six finalists, Hale had been interviewed by a panel of judges for the competition in mid-September.

The honor held particular significance for him as a Black man, and he hopes it shows the world what Black men are capable of, he said. The honor came after a summer of protests against systemic racism and the deaths of Black men in police custody.

“In the climate of America right now, the world needs to see that African-American men excel at many different types of professions, and we’re positive, and we’re powerful members of American society,” he said.

Later he added, “Having an opportunity to shed light on those things and shed light on us as being human is a great honor and a great responsibility.”

Hale has taught elementary grades for about a decade. The coronavirus pandemic presented new challenges for him as a teacher, but he and his students work together to make sure their learning and growth continue remotely, he said.

His teaching philosophy includes the three A’s — action, accountability and advocacy. He’s always thinking of innovative ways to help students who are struggling financially, educationally or emotionally, he said.

One way is by exposing students to people in the community who might be able to support them later on, he said. For example, his students once gave presentations in front of business people.

That event helped Hale and his students raise money to go on a field trip to the zoo, a major event for many of his students, who had never before left their northwest Dallas neighborhood.

Later, many of those business leaders donated time and money to help the school rebuild the gym after tornado damage and to improve students' access to technology during the pandemic.

Connecting students with others in the community helps them imagine more possibilities for their own lives, Hale said.

“I know that education is the key that unlocks generational poverty," he said. "So I’m trying to be a key maker. I’m trying to give them the keys.”

Now, as Texas Teacher of the Year, Hale will compete for National Teacher of the Year in the spring. He’s excited to have a platform to shine light on the hard work being done in Dallas and to learn from the other teachers there.

Though Hale is the one who received the honor, he said the recognition is really a victory for his students, most of whom are Latino or Black.

“You only know me because of the excellence of the students that I serve,” he said. “I know God has put everything in me I need to move my students. And if I don’t have it, he’s put the people around me that do.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, The Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.