Dear Editor,
Calling a group of teachers and education employees who raised legitimate concerns about workplace health and safety a “gangster union mob” is not a serious characterization. These were educators trying to navigate an unprecedented public health crisis, make decisions about their workplaces, and advocate for themselves and their students. They exercised their legal rights as employees and as a labor organization. Disagreement with those decisions doesn’t turn teachers into a “mob.”
It is also worth noting that we are now several years removed from the events described. The pandemic, school closures, remote learning, reopening decisions, and the debates surrounding them were extraordinarily complicated. Reasonable people, and certainly reasonable educators, could and did disagree about the appropriate course of action as the science and circumstances evolved.
I am genuinely curious about the purpose of resurrecting a years-old dispute and wrapping it in accusations of “lynching,” “gangster mobs,” and political conspiracy. If the goal is to improve education in McKinley County, there are considerably more productive things we could be talking about.
American Federation of Teachers New Mexico is proud to represent educators in McKinley County and across New Mexico. Our members continue to show up every day to educate students, support their communities, and advocate for strong public schools.
Sincerely,
Whitney Holland, AFT NM President
