Leslie Lawner, a former Roswell Middle School teacher who has spent the last two decades teaching about the Holocaust, is urging the New Mexico Legislature to pass House Bill 111 better known as the “Holocaust Education Act.”
The bill introduced by Albuquerque Representative Pameyla Herndon would require all New Mexico schools to teach about genocide, including the Holocaust, for students in 7th through 12th grade.
“It’s not about terrorizing them in a day or two so that they know this was a terrible thing. It’s about having them understand how it happened,” Lawner, now retired, told KRQE.
Although the Holocaust is mentioned in the social studies standards, Lawner said there’s no standard for how long classes must devote to the subject. Lawner said teachings need to be more consistent, especially with the rise in anti-Semitism.
“When they see Holocaust denial, disinformation on the internet or their friends tell them something,” Lawner said, “they can fight it, that they know this isn’t true.”
Herndon, a Democrat representing District 28, agrees. “As I looked through a number of books that were being adopted by the largest school district in the state – and that would be Albuquerque Public Schools – I didn’t see that as being at the forefront of a major piece of discussion,” Herndon said. “If that’s the largest school district, what are the other school districts looking at or not looking at?”
Herndon said it’s important to teach students the painful lessons of the past, so they don’t repeat themselves. “It’s always good to tell the backstory and not just what resulted in very horrific incidences,” Herndon said.
The New Mexico Public Education Department said while it supports Holocaust education, it also supports leaving certain curriculum decisions up to the local school leaders.