Letter To The Editor: School Board Candidate Nickole Aguilar Garcia Will Serve Los Alamos Well

By CHARLES REICHHARDT
Los Alamos

I am writing a letter to endorse Nickole Aguilar Garcia, in my District 5.

The main emphasis of schooling should be attaining the highest level of education in science, math, arts, history, writing, athletics and other specialized skills needed for adulthood or college. Los Alamos already has a reasonably strong school district, which is not only beneficial to Los Alamos residents, but also supports the ability of Los Alamos National Laboratory to attract top people.

One of the issues that has been raised centers around the potential teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) principles at any level. Claims have been made that CRT is taught only at graduate level courses or law school, but this sidesteps the question of whether students should be taught that the world is defined along strict binary lines of oppressed or oppressors, which could be based on wealth class, ethnicity, gender, religion, or race, depending on the trending issue at the time.

The version of this philosophy most relevant for K-12 schooling is based on race, and contends that virtually every system in modern US society is inherently racist, and that unconscious bias is widespread. It is this philosophy, regardless of what label it carries or does not carry, which runs counter to the goal of a strong traditional K-12 education.

I am strongly against Erin Green, who, based on her own words, appears to be a proponent of many of these principles. As found in her public speech made at Ashley Pond in June 2020, she states: “America has been founded and reliving a continuous traumatic situation since its birth”; “How do we heal from those traumas: you change from the community level such as education reform”; “black and brown people have been living in a survival live or die situation since this country was founded and it is your job as white people to lean into being white people.” She also advocates making wealthy people in Los Alamos uncomfortable. See the speech at this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEW45rFchBs&list=PLApE3XdaVlxbEmDMfv1vCiz4q5QBDjCbe&index=2

I do not feel that these views are appropriate for the Los Alamos School Board or will benefit our students. On the other hand, Nickole Aguilar Garcia has all the qualifications that will serve Los Alamos well. She is highly organized and has a strong track record of many past leadership roles and successful projects.

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