When school boards get together for meetings, the public is usually able to attend.
But when the Alaska Association of School Boards gets together to talk strategy for the coming year, the public is not welcome. That’s what Nial Williams discovered when he sat in on the Association of Alaska School Board conference this weekend at the Anchorage Hilton and quietly videotaped the proceedings. Until he was unceremoniously booted out.
The focus of the meeting was on the concept of racism and “equity,” which is one of the newer educational trends. Equity is understood in this era to be different from equality. Equity means every persons gets to succeed, and assistance is given according to their perceived need, in order to level the playing field. It’s a socialistic concept rooted in Critical Race theory.
Featured in the meeting was Anchorage School Board Chairwoman Margo Bellamy, who spoke at length about the concepts of disparity and promoted the concept of teaching Critical Race Theory. The document under consideration says Critical Race Theory without actually saying it:
Bellamy believes that people who are black or brown have no real chance in the current system because it has barriers to their success. Bellamy said “we can’t leave out the word ‘racism’.”
Watch her remarks here if the video is not embedded.
The four-day meeting also featured various awards for school board members across Alaska. Among those receiving awards for service is former Anchorage Board President Elisa Vakalis, who has been charged with theft and fraud.
Of note, the Mat-Su Borough School Board is not a member of AASB, and has not been for at least three years.
