Over the past week, Freedom Families United released an undercover video appearing to show a 2022 New Mexico School Boards Association conference training where the trainer, Andrew Sanchez, made remarks that “parental rights end when you send your kids to public school.”
After the Piñon Post’s request for comment to the New Mexico School Boards Association (NMSBA), the organization’s executive director, Joe Guillen, a former Española School Board member, has issued a response, decrying the video as “clearly mischaracterized” and affirming that the NMSBA has not “advocated for a diminished role of local control or parental rights in determining local educational policy and content.”
The full response from Mr. Guillen is as follows:
Thank you for your message and for sharing the subject YouTube video. Let me begin by assuring you the New Mexico School Boards Association (NMSBA) values and recognizes the important role parental participation and engagement play in the success our schools and students in New Mexico. We encourage our members to make parent involvement a central part of their community outreach efforts to help ensure their policies and programs reflect and meet the needs of their students.
A little background on the process we utilize in selecting breakout sessions at each of four major conferences. Prior to each conference we issue a request for presentation proposals which is distributed to numerous officials, agencies and law firms involved in public education. Upon receipt of presentation proposals we select approximately 18 and place them in three concurrent time slots allowing school board members to pick and choose those to attend among the various topics. See the attached listing of training sessions for our Annual Conference held in Albuquerque last December where the subject session was presented. You will note the wide range of training topics we attempt to offer.
Andy Sanchez, is a well-known and longtime school attorney with over 25 years of experience with the Cuddy & McCarthy Law Firm and more recently with the Himes, Petrarca & Fester Law Firm. He has presented at our conferences regularly on a host of school related topics. We felt the topic of his presentation was very timely given the recent adoption of new social studies standards by the NM Public Education Department.
The presentation, which the website video clearly mischaracterized, focused on the current federal and state laws and the court cases on the role of local control and parents in the curriculum development and review process. The presentation did not discount the role or value of local control or parents in the educational process. To be clear, neither NMSBA or the presenter advocated for a diminished role of local control or parental rights in determining local educational policy and content. Many of those in the audience who were present for the entire session, were complimentary of the information presented. While the session lasted approximately 60 minutes, the website video picked 2.5 minutes of the presentation to attempt to make a point clearly unrelated to the purpose and content of the presentation.
NMSBA remains focused on the topics that most impact students and teachers—ensuring every classroom is staffed with a highly qualified teacher; increasing broadband internet access to close the ‘homework gap;’ supporting historically disadvantaged students; supporting students with disabilities and mental health needs; and addressing the learning loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sanchez’s talk appears to have come from a 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. slot on December 3, 2022, at the conference titled “Parent Attempts to Opt-Out of Curriculum and Teachers, including a Review of CRT and Parent-rights.” According to the conference schedule, around 80 people were in attendance. The full schedule for the conference was provided by Mr. Guillen, which is linked here.
The NMSBA needs to get the message loud and clear, YOU ARE NOT THE STUDENT’S PARENTS. Educators are hired to teach nothing more, from what we have seen they aren’t very good at that job.
I was in one of those break-out sessions. The school boards are on the side of parents – and especially want LOCAL control! This is why so many people were in this session. The point Mr Sanchez was trying to make -I guess- was to let the boards know how thier hands are tied.
Here is what the problem is: The school boards have been stripped of most of thier power.
It is sad that so many people run for school board trying to make a differnce, only to find out that the the Public Education Department (PED), and this governor and legistlature have taken all of thier power (see the Floyd school board case). Here is my advice if you want change in our schools: RUN FOR THE LEGISTLATURE not for school board, and then work to return LOCAL CONTROL!
You are exactly right!!!! The school board’s hands are tied on so, so many things. It’s our evil governor and the liberal legislature the control everything. As it stands now, schools have to be very “creative” and think outside the box so as to not help these tyrants in indoctrinating our kids!
There is a reason one of the 10 planks of the communist manifesto is public school. If you have children you should be responsible for their care, education, etc, not anyone else. If you support stealing from others so children can be”edukated” you are a communist and thief. Michael Jackson even wrote about responsibility in one of his songs: if you cant feed your baby, than don’t have a baby….
Legally you do give your rights to the school and they take custody and can do whatever they want… It has already been ruled in court. Too bad the american people are too stupid and lazy to understand their rights and our founding documents, and accept the take over of marxism and communism.
I totally agree with you! the public school system is funded by the taxpayers and the public school system is not a sovereign state unto itself. Every parent and child are protected by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights and case law. School Bords do not have any RIGHT TO MANADATE ANYTHING THATIS NOT IN COMPLIANCEWITH THE US CONSITITUTION ECT. School Board and teachers understand you cannot violate the US Constitution or Bill of Rights and case law. if so, you will find yourselves facing a lawsuit or class action lawsuit. I say School Board members and teachers, staff educate yourselves on our Founding Documents. Parents, grandparents you also educate yourselves, in order to protect your precious children. Founding Documents are online.
Right on!!
I believe that our public schools k thru 12 should not maybe but should get back to teaching READING, WRITING, MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY ARTS MUSIC LEAVE THE SOCIAL TRASH OUT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Why is it that every time one of these videos or recordings is leaked that it somehow manages to ‘mischaracterize’ what was obviously said?
NM school boards should be begging for parental input – schools are languishing at bottom of all rankings – they need every bit of assistance they can get.
I can only say in the past they hired teachers who were only focused on speaking Spanish and were educated in NM. Students were pushed through primary grades unable to read. They would eventually drop out of school. But now they are to each CRT. I think it’s gone from bad to horrid!
Mr. Guillen, do not try to cover up what Andrew Sanchez said. We know what the governor in this state is pushing and it is not reading, writing, and arithmetic. The special ed in this state for dyslexia and other learning disabilities is a joke as well. No more cover up. Parents rise up and take your rights back.
The Albuquerque school board are not the adults in the room.
And in the meantime, they keep on teaching CRT and calling it Social Studies. I’ve seen teachers say, on camera, they are going to keep on teaching CRT – no matter what is said by who/whom. No child should be made to feel a victim OR an oppressor. Why do they want to damage children this way…why are they teaching at all?? If you hate children, get a different job!!
Sending your children to public school is child abuse and you are destroying our former constitutional republic by allowing the indoctrination of children into the corrupt police/nanny state new mexicans love. The people are compromised because they either work for the state or get hand outs. This is nothing but bribery and done to get the people complicit in this unlawful, unconstitutional coup against God’s law which was given to our founders.
If you do not home school you are part of the problem.
I was told back in 1989 that there’s a state law that children who attend public school in NM are in the “custody” of the state, thus giving the state power to do or say whatever they want during school hours. That also included teenage girls being transported to Planned Parenthood for abortions without parental knowledge. Maybe that’s why NM education is BAD.
Yes you are right, but people do not want to take responsibility and care for their own children. They would rather steal from others and let someone else raise them. We are now seeing the result of 5 generations of brainwashed morons produced by those who have planned the over throw of our republic over a hundred years ago…. Facts are facts, the proof is every where. people do not understand nor want to understand their rights responsibilities and the supreme law of the land.
More fake news with a fake leaked video.
With the passage of HB7 Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care, parental rights were absolutely severed. If a child wants an abortion, change his or her name or take gender-altering medication, the school faces a $5,000 if parents are told.
With the passage of HB7 Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care, parental rights were absolutely severed. If a child wants an abortion, change his or her name or take gender-altering medication, the school faces a $5,000 if parents are told.
With the passage of HB7 Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care, parental rights were absolutely severed. If a child wants an abortion, change his or her name or take gender-altering medication, the school faces a $5,000 if parents are told.