Dear Editor,
This is in response to “Ethnic Studies: From a student perspective” that was published Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
With all due respect to the various “students” that wrote their opinions, you have little wisdom, experience, or perspective on educational curriculum or pedagogy. After all, you are only 14 – 18 years old. Your opinions should not influence what curriculum you should be learning. In the 1960’s we allowed college students to overrun their colleges and demand changes to the curriculum. Chants such as “hey hey, ho ho, western civ has got to go” were heard at many colleges. Allowing students to determine what curriculum should be taught makes about as much sense as allowing a patient to determine what surgery should be performed or allowing a child to set their own bedtime.
Now let us address some facts. Despite what Superintendent Pulver or the Los Al School board claims, the approved ethnic studies elective at Los Alamitos High School is based on a framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT). To prove this, you simply need to look at the PowerPoint presentations that were presented to various community groups in bringing this course forward. One such slide is presented below. Many slides in this presentation showed that the material was coming from two primary sources:
- Christine E. Sleeter, a far-left CRT activist
- The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Guidelines from the CA Dept. of Ed, which worked with The Southern Poverty Law Center in creating the guidelines. The Southern Poverty Law Center is another far-left CRT supporting organization.
Other approved district wide initiatives are “social justice standards” and “culturally responsive instruction.” Both efforts are neo-Marxist as they view our schools and curriculum through the lens of the oppressed and oppressors. This is anti-American and has no place in our schools.
To suggest that racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, or transphobia is a significant issue in the LAUSD is simply a lie. One student writes: “…ethnic minorities within the district continue to experience racism and all manner of xenophobia on a daily basis.” Both my children attended Los Al schools, I served as an elected school board member for the Los Alamitos Unified School Board for 12 years, and I am very close to parents with school-age children that currently attend Los Al schools – this narrative is simply a lie that keeps getting repeated.
While there will always be some level of bigotry in our society, the Los Al Unified community including Seal Beach, Rossmoor, and Los Alamitos is a welcoming and inclusive community. To the extent that a rare student experiences bigotry, we should work hard to prevent this but not at the expense of dismantling an otherwise high-quality institution. Meanwhile, we are failing our kids in learning the basics. For example, the 2016 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (caaspp) scores show that 46% of Los Alamitos High School students were below grade level in math and in 2018, 42% were below grade level. This is simply unacceptable!
Regarding the educational forum on CRT scheduled for July 27 and August 24 at the Rush Park Auditorium in Rossmoor. This is one in a series of educational forums that the Orange County Board of Education has held over the years including forums on: Common Core, The CA Healthy Youth Act, and Reopening school guidelines during COVID-19. Unlike meetings and forums held by the Los Al School Board where decisions were being made on whether to approve curriculum, the County Board of Education forums are solely educational and will include a panel of bipartisan academic experts from various fields.
As President of the Rossmoor Community Services District, I welcome the educational forums and look forward to hearing from the distinguished experts.
Jeffrey I. Barke, M.D.
President, Rossmoor Community Services District