Wilhelmina Yazzie’s eldest son, Xavier Nez, was a fourth grader when she became a plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit that found that the state’s public education system did not provide adequate education for several groups of at-risk students.
Nez graduated from Gallup High School this year. But his mother called on Friday in the courtyard of India’s Pueblo Cultural Center, where dozens of tribal leaders, educators and lawmakers gathered to urge the state to put more pressure on the lawsuit that bears her name.
During a press conference on Friday, several speakers including Yazzie also targeted the swirling controversy over the status of the director of the Legislative Education Committee, Rachel Gudgel, who made racist remarks about Native Americans while at work. A panel of state lawmakers last week pegged 5-5 on whether to fire Gudgel, which allows her to maintain her influential position.
When Yazzie brought up the controversy, she fought back tears when her voice cracked.
“It’s very heartbreaking, especially for someone in high power, to really think about my children that way, to make fun of my children, our children,” she said. “It’s very heartbreaking.”
Although several leaders from Pueblo, Navajo and Apache have joined Yazzie to demand a more culturally relevant education for their students and to correct a public education system that they believe is fraught with injustices, they again called for Gudgel two days after it was granted removed from their job becomes public apology.
The governor of Zia Pueblo, Jerome Lucero, in an emotional speech called for Gudgel’s immediate removal, referring to the Zia symbol that adorns the state flag.
“The state has disregarded this symbol, dishonored this symbol and has no love for this symbol,” he said. “That’s how I feel right now.
“It hurts to see this sun symbol fly so high and yet people can sit there and give us indigenous people racist comments,” he added.
In a statement emailed, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham made her most pointed comments on the controversy.
“I have refrained from commenting directly in the course of this saga because I believe that it is not entirely appropriate for the executive to dictate to the legislature on personnel matters – just as I consider it inappropriate for the roles to be reversed.” “She said,” At a certain point, however, circumstances warrant a little more. “
Lujan Grisham added that if Gudgel were her employee, she would now be fired and the results of the investigation made public.
“To local families and communities and parents and students who are hurt: As the governor of this state, I am sorry that this happened, and I am sorry that it happened that way – with secrecy and a lack of clarity about the facts. … That person, if the facts back up the allegations, shouldn’t be in public trust, end of story, ”she said.
Senator Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, who heads the Legislative Education Study Committee, did not respond to an email request for comments and was unavailable by phone.
Speakers at the press conference also complained that the state is hesitant to respond to Judge Sarah Singleton’s 2018 ruling in the Yazzie / Martinez case, and some proponents say they have even presented ideas and plans to the state like him Can help local children – among the student groups complained in New Mexico received inadequate education.
The Tribal Remedy Framework, published in 2019 in response to the lawsuit and based on recommendations from several groups, calls for the direct allocation of education funds to the tribes for community-based program support and tribal libraries, as well as initiatives to promote the local teacher workforce.
During the last legislative term, only $ 30 million was approved out of a $ 140 million motion from multiple bills surrounding the plan on such items. Regis Pecos, who resigned his post as political advisor in the legislature in response to the vote that Gudgel kept as LESC director, spoke out on funding during a meeting of the Legislative Education Committee recently.
But a spokeswoman for the Public Education Department noted that much was achieved for local students during the session.
“Although we did not receive the full amount, we have achieved some historic victories in Indian education this year,” department spokeswoman Carolyn Graham wrote in an email on Friday.
Some at the press conference pointed to the struggles of local children and the state policies that they claim perpetuate these problems.
“We refuse to recognize that tribal peoples actually know best how to raise their children. This is systemic racism, ”said James Jimenez, director of New Mexico Voices for Children.
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