Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SWOP homepageRacism of Anglo establishment still alive and well in Carlsbad
Click on letter to enlarge.
In a letter to parents last week Carlsbad High School Principal Ray Burrola scapegoated “Hispanic students”, “students with disabilities”, and “economically disadvantaged students” for the High School not meeting AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), a component of the Bush administration’s backwards “No Child Left Behind Act”. Concerned parents and community members put the call out to SWOPblogger to let the world know what is going on in their corner of the state.
The very person who is supposed to serve as a role model for the students of Carlsbad High School; the person whose job it is to boost morale, break down barriers between students and unify the school, the principal, is the one responsible for this hateful, divisive letter. Many teachers have seen this side of Ray Burrola in their classrooms. He has been described as forceful, in your face, and was quoted by a teacher saying, “The best way to run a school is to be a dictator.”
“We should not be pitting one group against another in our schools. What type of lesson does that teach our youth? He could have worded the letter differently. All of our families should be expected to take responsibility for our children, but we will continue to fail if this type of negative learning environment is reinforced by poor leadership. The only way we can succeed is by coming together, all of us as one.” Said a parent who would not disclose her name for fear of retaliation on her child.
The community is demanding that Carlsbad High School Principal Ray Burrola publically apologize to the students, faculty and community of Carlsbad for creating this type of negative learning environment. That way we can begin to unify and move forward together, as one.
The very person who is supposed to serve as a role model for the students of Carlsbad High School; the person whose job it is to boost morale, break down barriers between students and unify the school, the principal, is the one responsible for this hateful, divisive letter. Many teachers have seen this side of Ray Burrola in their classrooms. He has been described as forceful, in your face, and was quoted by a teacher saying, “The best way to run a school is to be a dictator.”
“We should not be pitting one group against another in our schools. What type of lesson does that teach our youth? He could have worded the letter differently. All of our families should be expected to take responsibility for our children, but we will continue to fail if this type of negative learning environment is reinforced by poor leadership. The only way we can succeed is by coming together, all of us as one.” Said a parent who would not disclose her name for fear of retaliation on her child.
The community is demanding that Carlsbad High School Principal Ray Burrola publically apologize to the students, faculty and community of Carlsbad for creating this type of negative learning environment. That way we can begin to unify and move forward together, as one.
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"“Hispanic students”, “students with disabilities”, and “economically disadvantaged students”". Are these really the categories for New Mexico students taking the test? If so, apparently he's just stating the fact that they scored lower than students in other categories. And because of the wierd rules of NCLB, the whole school is graded badly. It's a no-win system.
I think New Mexico should try to opt out of NCLB altogether, like Utah and Connecticut.
I think New Mexico should try to opt out of NCLB altogether, like Utah and Connecticut.
# posted by 
: 11:05 PM
: 11:05 PM
Well first of all, NCLB is bad policy and we should opt out. However, the part that really gets me is the "Carlsbad H.S. did not meet AYP as a result of the Hispanic students, students with disabilities and economic disadvantaged students not meeting or exceeding requirements for reading." The use of language is important here. Principal Ray could have said "Carlsbad H.S. did not meet AYP as a result of the failure of our instructional strategies. Therefore, Hispanic, etc students didn't meet AYP." The students take the test. Their responsibility is to do their best. The rest of the responsibility lies with the community--including Principal Ray.
# posted by : 6:33 AM
: 6:33 AM
I am a mother of three adult children all were educated in New Mexico, I have heard this kind of racist bullshit in the past. I received a letter from a albuquerque charter school saying the same exact thing. The truth of the matter is Hispanic,black disabled, and low income students were very poorly educated compared to white students the No Child Left Behind Act now demonstrates how poorly our people were and still are educated in the public schools. And charter school do all they can to keep minority children out of their schools for fear of not meeting the required AYP
I think this is a mis understanding. Yes i agree he should of worded it better, but there is a catagory for each race and different standard for the tests. I know Ray Burrola and he is not a racist by any means. He was a principal in our school in Roswell for many years, and he has many stories of himselve being discriminated against.
We need to get rid of NCLB, it is an attempet by the federal government to take our schools from us. So contact the Public Education Commisioners, and tell them you do not want it.
George Peterson
RISD Board Member District 4
We need to get rid of NCLB, it is an attempet by the federal government to take our schools from us. So contact the Public Education Commisioners, and tell them you do not want it.
George Peterson
RISD Board Member District 4
# posted by : 6:14 PM
: 6:14 PM
NCLB is a racist law. This is a problem that is much bigger than some jerk of a high school principal. I hope the community can get a new principal - if he sends out thoughtless comments in letters like this, imagine how he treats students and teachers!
We should organize to get rid of NCLB, not reform it. Don't forget that the Dems co-created this mess.
We should organize to get rid of NCLB, not reform it. Don't forget that the Dems co-created this mess.
# posted by : 3:33 PM
: 3:33 PM
He may have faults as all educators and all humans do, but Ray is not a racist. that's simply unfair.
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# posted by : 11:02 AM
: 11:02 AM Links to this post:
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