Republicans Seek to Counter 'Liberal Bias' in Local Schools, Colleges

Jason Aula said he had to develop "tough skin" in college. 

The 26-year-old Long Beach resident said he was harassed by students, ignored by professors and was even called a “neo-Nazi” because of his political beliefs.

“I was in a fraternity (and) they made me feel like it was so shameful, literally, to be a Republican,” Aula said.

At a meeting of the Rossmoor- Los Alamitos Republican Women's Federated Saturday, Aula and other local Republicans talked about ways to grow their membership and counter “liberal bias” in nearby schools and colleges.

Among the ideas stressed at the meeting at the Farmer's and Merchant’s Bank at 12535 Seal Beach Blvd: a call to urge local educational leaders to monitor lesson plans to make sure they present both sides of controversial issues like immigration and healthcare.

In May 2011, the Los Alamitos Unified School District went through its share of controversy on the oft-divisive issue of "Global Warming.” A new environmental science course prompted the district to rewrite its policy for teaching controversial subject matter. Concerned that "liberal" faculty members could skew lessons on global warming, the district board of education voted 4-0 to make teachers give an annual presentation on how they're teaching the class. 

In an interview with Patch after his speech to the local Republicans, Aula, the Political Director of the Long Beach Young Republicans, said he felt that popular culture presents Republicans as “hatemongers" and "racists" and, he said, the state’s leaders in education promote a pro-liberal agenda.

Aula said he's experienced that bias first hand. In 2008, he said had a teacher who was a “staunch liberal” who gave him a lower grade allegeldy because Aula wrote something that was “kind of pro-republican.” He said he eventually ended up retaking the class.

Aula said he was ignored by other professors and called “neo-nazi” for his political views, especially those about illegal immigration.

“They harass me. I’ve gotten use to it,” Aula said. “Being a Republican, it gives you tough skin.”

And, he added, he believes that liberal bias affects not just colleges but local schools too.

He said one factor that leads to bias in the education system is the high number of schools that have certain Latino support groups that, he alleged, are in reality all about backing a pro-illegal immigration stancem. He listed said local chapters of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (Mecha), as examples.

"They essentially function as political action committees at college campuses regionally," “said Aula, whose father emigrated to America from Indian legally. 

For Aula, the way to combat liberal bias in education facilities is to register more Republicans.

The state is "60 percent Democrat, 39 percent Republican," he said to the gathered Republicans. "The margin’s not as small as it seems."

Aula said this week he submitted his paperwork to run for the Long Beach City Council, District 1 position. 

Rossmoor resident Earlene Boyd, who attended the Saturday meeting, said her granddaughter had attended Los Alamitos High School and two local community colleges, and her daughter said she felt that there was liberal bias, especially in the case of one teacher who allegedly bragged about having medical permission to smoke marijuana. Boyd said she would like to see education officials ensure that local lesson plans are "monitored and policed" to prevent bias.

She added that if school officials don't do things like that, the voters should replace them with people who will.

“A good instructor should teach young people to do (their) own fact-finding and come to (their) own conclusion," Boyd said. 

Other attendees at the meeting including the former mayor of Los Alamitos, the former Mayor of La Palma and the Mayor Pro Tem of Cypress.

Editor's note: We here at Patch try our best to cover a broad range of local political events, whether Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian or Bull Moose. 

If you hear of an upcoming political event in Los Alamitos, Rossmoor or Seal Beach, please put a free announcement on our site by clicking here. Or you can an email us at at cranny777@gmail.com or paige.austin@patch.com. Or you can put it in the comments below.