Feature Photo By: Alivia Lee– Eric Nelson continues to serve on the APS Board of Education, despite being identified as a fraud and liar. Nelson has yet to resign from the Board, though it was discovered mid-June that he had lied about his military and educational background on his resume.
By Alivia Lee, Review Staff
Dear Aurora voters,
I write to you not as an act of teenage rebellion and angst, but as a student in an underperforming district, asking you to open your eyes and at least pretend to care about my education and the education of over 30,000 other students. Aurora Public Schools as a whole is in major debt, many of its schools are performing below standards, and a proven liar Eric Nelson is still serving as a Board member.
Nelson lied about both his military and educational background, and the lies were not discovered until this summer when Nelson ran for a state representative office.
Many of you probably can’t even name a Board member, let alone recognize the name Eric Nelson. This man is a fraud, a liar, and is representing Aurora students.
The Board cannot simply fire Nelson; it is you, Aurora voters, that elected this man to represent the education of your children. Now that the truth is out, it is your job to help make this right. Nelson is currently serving his third year on a four year term — are you just going to sit back and let this man represent your children?
The answer remains obvious.
I do not know why I bother writing about something as serious and meaningful as a Board member because none of you Aurora voters or parents seem to even care about the education of Aurora students, when in fact it is the fault of voters that this district has a corrupted man leading student education.
Nelson’s fraudulent, unethical resume was widely reported by the Denver media when he threw his hat in the political ring this summer, but since the middle of August, The Raider Review has been the only media to dedicate a story to this disgraced man. There is outrage when a politician lies to the public he serves but it is okay for a school Board member?
It almost feels like a waste of time to try and inform the public about an issue and to try and make people care about the education of over 30,000 students — how dare I, a 17-year-old student at an underperforming school when measured against state averages, ask for the community to come together and stand for not only my education but the education of all my fellow Aurora students?
I am not even upset with the APS Board of Education anymore; they have done everything in their power to limit Nelson’s abilities and prevent him from causing any more damage, but what have you as an Aurora voter done for Aurora education? A $300 million bond was passed in the election, but how confident are you now in the Board that controls that money?
No one has publically decided to recall Nelson? Parents of Aurora students have put no pressure on Nelson? I think the worst part of this situation is that it has been six months since the truth was revealed and the Aurora community has done nothing.
I have made several attempts to contact Nelson since August; he left me a voicemail once and has not responded to many subsequent messages. Board President Amber Drevon did get back to me; the other Board members I contacted did not.
We cannot wait for our elected leaders to act — it is up to us, clearly.
Through the Colorado Secretary of State, one is able to get the necessary resources to file for a recall on Director Nelson. Not everyone wants to put in the time and effort to get a recall going, but putting pressure on Nelson by writing him and showing up at Board meetings is a first step in trying to remove him from the Board.
You have to be 18 to file a petition to recall — I cannot do this for another month, but we cannot wait that long.
Please Aurora voters, consider what you are doing to your children by letting this fraud continue to serve this community.
Act now.
For more information on recalling visit: http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/policyManual/14ElectionsPolicyManual-Recall.pdf
For the full investigation report on Nelson visit:
Sincerely,
Concerned Citizen Alivia Lee
