Judicial Watch: Elementary school training Mexican revolutionaries with US taxpayer money

Ron Brynaert
Published: Monday October 16, 2006

A conservative public interest group has released a report which claims that a California elementary school which instructs urban children from immigrant families in native languages to foster the indigenous identity of the students is training the next generation of Mexican revolutionaries with U.S. taxpayer money, RAW STORY has learned.

The report, "Academia Semillas del Pueblo (Seeds of the People Academy): Training the Next Generation of Mexican Revolutionaries with American Tax Dollars," includes excerpts of new documents obtained "through the California Public Records Act that highlight the school's radical agenda," according to a press release issued by Judicial Watch.

"Academia Semillas del Pueblo is not much more than a training ground for the Mexican reconquista movement, which seeks to conquer the American Southwest – by force or by ballot box – and return it to Mexico," the report's introduction charges.

In June, the public charter elementary school complained about threats received as a result of a news report which called it a "racist institution funded by local taxpayers."

"Parents of students from Academia Semillas del Pueblo, an elementary charter school located in El Sereno, CA, will gather at the KABC-AM station to address concerns regarding the safety of their children," according to a media alert. "The parents are reacting to threats received by the elementary school that occurred after a segment on KABC-AM’s McIntyre in the Morning radio program aired on Wednesday, May 31, 2006."

"The report depicted the elementary charter school as a racist institution funded by local taxpayers," the school's statement continued. "The parents are demanding that Disney intervene and hold KABC-AM accountable for the inaccuracy of the information disseminated from its station on behalf of the safety of the students of the Academia Semillas Del Pueblo."

District officials visited the school in the spring and cleared it of charges of racism.

"We looked specifically for any indications of any overt discriminatory practices on campus, such as statements on bulletin boards that expressed racial animus, were kids learning English, was math being taught consistent with California standards, and my understanding is they left satisfied that nothing of great concern was going on," said LAUSD attorney Kevin Reed.

Excerpts from Judicial Watch's report:

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– Academia is led by Mexican revolutionary radical Marcos Aguilar, who recently told an interviewer with UCLA's Teaching to Change L.A.: "We don't necessarily want to go to White schools . . . the White way, the American way, the neo liberal, capitalist way of life will eventually lead to our own destruction."

– Academia offers an 8th grade United States history and geography class entitled, "A People's history of Expansion and Conflict – A thematic survey of American politics, society, culture and political economy; Emphasis throughout on the nations the U.S. usurped, invaded and dominated; Connections between historical rise of capitalism and imperialism with modern political economy and global social relations."

– Academia is funded by the Mexican reconquista organization "National Council of La Raza." Moreover, Aguilar previously served as a leader of M.E.Ch.A., a radical student-run Chicano organization, while attending UCLA. According to M.E.Ch.A.'s official statement of principles, "Aztlan (the American southwest) belongs to indigenous people, who are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture. . . . We are a union of free pueblos forming a bronze Nation."

– According to Academia's original charter application, the school targets "communities (that) are highly self-identified as Latino." English instruction for Academia's students does not begin until the fourth grade.

"Marcos Aguilar's school seems to be brainwashing school children with Mexican separatist, anti-American, Marxist propaganda, and getting American taxpayers to pay for it," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "How could the Los Angeles Unified School District agree to fund this sham of a school with tax dollars?"

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The entire report can be read at this pdf link.