Dear Editor,
I’m a resident of Los Alamitos with a kid currently enrolled in the district. It’s been frustrating, to say the least, watching a small minority of “concerned” parents spread misinformation and underrepresent our elected board members for the sake of maintaining ideological comfort. Simply stated, “unconstitutional” mask mandates and “socialist” ethnicity/equity indoctrination not only violate liberty but deserve no place in our school systems. Thus, say recall advocates, we must recall those board members responsible for violating said freedoms and promoting socialist propaganda.
As one who appreciates critical thought and reason, I attempted to read the pro-recall website to gain some perspective of the issues raised. Unfortunately, it’s extremely incoherent, lacking in substance, and riddled with false information.
For instance, the website alleges that Los Al students “are being pushed out by socialist left-winged agendas,” with “more than 2,500” students having been relocated out of district, citing displeasure with “curriculum, mandates, and other personal issues….” My question is: where’s the evidence for this? Some parents may feel uncomfortable with social change and safety but one’s comfort level hardly validates an argument; it’s definitely not evidence.
The key issues fueling the recall effort are mask mandates and ethnic studies education. Similar to infant car-seat mandates that ensure the elevated safety of passengers in a vehicle, wearing a mask ensures lower exposure and decreased spread of COVID-19. A simple directive for most societies, including the U.S., is grounded in the idea that liberty must not be impeded unless one’s actions harm others; this is known as the harm principle.
Mask mandates are justified on those grounds and there’s nothing “unconstitutional” or “socialist” about it. The other major issue involves ethnic and equity studies. Proponents of the recall claim that ethnic and equity studies risk exposing our kids to CRT (critical race theory). It doesn’t, but so what if it did? Is there something wrong with updating our understanding of history and our place in it? I’ve read elsewhere that CRT is university level theory and deserves no place in lower education. With that same line of reasoning, we should stop teaching biology to our grade school kids because cell theory is university level theory.
The one thing we all have in common is concern for our students’ wellbeing and success. If my kid’s wearing a mask protects others from the potential spread of a deadly disease, or if she chooses to take an elective course that emphasizes diversity and equity, who am I to complain? I applaud the efforts of any kid intelligent enough to behave altruistically for the sake of social progress. What needs to be checked is paranoid assumptions about the nature of school curricula and uninformed fears of losing liberty. To the people behind the recall, instead of fretting over unsubstantiated “political agendas” to “indoctrinate” our children, look in the mirror and question your own agendas, ideological assumptions, and “personal issues.”
John C. Duff
Los Alamitos
