In the Journal this morning, link, we found that an investigation of APS by APS found no wrong doing by APS.The investigation was conducted by APS School Police detectives. The APS Police force reports directly to and only to, the leadership of the APS. As a police force they are without certification or accreditation by anyone but themselves. They are accountable to no one except themselves.The very act of self investigation creates the appearance of a conflict of interests; the same administration that...
APS administration clears self of inappropriate behavior
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Disability and disruption or more specifically; chronic disability and chronic disruption.
Chronic;constantly vexing, weakening, or troubling. There are students in the APS who have been determined to have "disorders". The manifestations of some of their disorders create disruption in the classrooms and on the campuses where they take place.Students with disorders have the same right to public school education as do students without disorders. Students without disorders have the same right to public school education as do students...
"My (APS) school has an adequate response to bullying."
APS going to survey parents, link. The first survey item reads;1. My (APS) school has an adequate response to bullying.How would parents know if their child's school does or doesn't have an adequate response to bullying?They would base their opinions on information and experience. If they have no experience, they must base their opinion on information alone. That information could be informal and anecdotal, or it could be actual data.There is no actual data on bullying in APS.APS steadfastly refuses to share real data...
APS Police ignore MOU with the County Sheriff.
According to the Journal this morning, link, an investigation is being conducted by the APS Police force. Allegedly, a principal bashed a student's head against a wall. If true, it would seem that a felony "may have" been committed. According to NM State Statutes;Aggravated battery30-3-5. Aggravated battery . A. Aggravated battery consists of the unlawful touching or application of force to the person of another...
Retaliation alleged in APS
KKOB talk show host Billy Cornelius expressed some concern the other night, over a story he had heard. Apparently a teacher was alleged to have taped a student's mouth shut, another teacher reported the incident, was retaliated against, and now is now suing APS. It begs a question or two.Does the leadership of the APS retaliate against whistle blowers? Does it make any difference if they do?To the first; they do. ...
On "embracing the suck"
Representative Nancy Pelosi is in trouble, link, over her use of the military slang; embrace the suck. In the context, I found it clever. I think it is funny.Not so, in the political press. It is fair to say that mountains are being made of a mole hill.People will find its use in that context amusing or they will not. If they do not, then just with any joke, no amount of explaining is going to make it any funnier....
Why is there so little consensus in public education?
It seems odd to me that after millennia of experience educating children and centuries of efforts to publicly educate them, a really good solution is yet to be found.The practitioners of (public) education are highly educated; all have at least a bachelors degree, many have masters degrees and a not an insignificant number have doctorates. The vast majority have several years of experience, many have decades of experience. In...
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge."
The non-profit Wikipedia's plea for financial support, link; quoted in significant part.I can't help but imagine;A school system in which every single student has free access to the sum of all human knowledge, and the opportunity to learn how to use it safely, effectively, and efficiently; rather immediately and for the rest of their lives.If the creation of independent lifelong learners is the ultimate goal of public education, why is...
Korte rebellion wrong headed; sets poor example for students
APS School Board Vice President Kathy Korte is leading a rebellion against unnecessary testing. I object to open rebellion as an acceptable solution to any problem for which there are better, less confrontational solutions. Her rebellion is after all just a power play, albeit a power play in response to a power play (by the Public Education Department).John Kennedy argued;"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent...
APS forming "Social Media Task Force". You cannot be serious!
The leadership of the APS has decided to rewrite the district-level social media policy and guidelines. The current policy, link,Employees need to be mindful of their internet website postings even if done off duty and off District property. Do not engage in social networking during the duty day. Do not disclose personal or contact information, or post photographs of employees without their permission. Never post a photograph...
Journal gets one right but, talk is cheap.
More accurately, Journal staff writer Winthrop Quigley gets one right, link; Civil discourse needed in education debate.A number of people get that civil discourse is necessary in the education debate. They get as well, that civil discourse is needed in every public policy debate.There is not now, civil discourse in policy debates. That can only be because the people with the power to control the discourse, would rather prevail...
APS; shameless spending
The leadership of the APS burns through well over a billion tax dollars a year.They spend in two areas; capital and operational. Simply put, capital funds buy buildings and operational dollars buy actual education; teachers and their ancillary support.One of the things the leadership of the APS chooses to spend huge numbers of operational dollars on, is litigation. They spend millions of dollars every year on litigation. ...
Smaller parachute not "a vote of no confidence" according to Esquivel
APS Supt Winston Brooks' golden parachute is a little less golden after the APS School Board decided to not give him his usual; a three year extension worth $750K.If last year, APS School Board President Marty Esquivel had been asked why he and the board voted to give Brooks a three year extension on his contract, he would have lead you to believe it was because the school board has confidence in him.And now, Esquivel would have interest...
Journal turns in editorial after the bell
I will leave it to others to determine what is the actual editorial policy of the Albuquerque Journal is or should be.Allan Weintraut's model, link:An editorial is an article that presents the newspaper's opinion on an issue. It reflects the majority vote of the editorial board, the governing body of the newspaper made up of editors and business managers. It is usually unsigned. Much in the same manner of a lawyer, editorial writers build on an argument and try to persuade readers to think the same way they do. Editorials are...
The two faces of Marty Esquivel
As a media lawyer, Marty Esquivel argues that a district court judge had no business closing a preliminary hearing to the public. His argument; the public interests are not served by unnecessary secrecy. He expressed additional outrage that the closure was made without any explanation or defense; it was just simply done.The Journal reports, link, "... Esquivel complained that they were at a “tremendous disadvantage” because...
APS School Board will take action on Brooks tomorrow morning.
The meeting, link, will begin at 7:30. The public meeting will immediately vote to adjourn to Executive Session, a meeting in secret from interest holders. A meeting, of which, no recording will be made.Some of what they discuss is legitimately kept secret from public knowledge. By "legitimately" I mean, not only does the law allow it, but the secrecy is ethically justifiable.All of the rest of what they consider will...
Board seeking public input on Brooks' eval - yeah, right.
The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education will make a decision Thursday. They will decide whether to re-inflate Winston Brooks golden parachute to a full $750K. They will have finished their completely in secret evaluation of the superintendent.There is a manifest conflict of interests;their obligation to conduct an impartial evaluation of the superintendent andtheir own personal public relations needs.The very worst...
“Now it’s time for me to be a role model to you.” Winston Brooks
Fresh off his three day suspension and the morning after whatever it was that happened Wednesday night, APS Supt Winston Brooks met with his SuperSAC; the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council. He sought their advice on his recovery as their superintendent.At some point in the discussion Winston Brooks said;“Now it’s time for me to be a role model to you.”He should have been more specific.Some people, when they use the phrase...
"Executive session", "behind closed doors", or "meeting in secret"?
There are public records and kinds of discussions that school board members should have in secret. Those records and those discussions enjoy exception under the law; they are an exception to your right to know how your power and resources are being spent. Everything else is public knowledge.There is the spirit of a law, and then there is the letter of the law. The letter of the law is under constant revision as government...
Winston Brooks' golden probation
APS Supt Winston Brooks will return to work today in probationary status. At least that is the impression the School Board would like to promote."If you EVER, EVER do anything like this again,THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!"Brooks cannot be fired for misconduct unless that misconduct is prohibited by law. The Board could send Brooks packing for something less than criminal misconduct, but it would cost taxpayers whatever he has left in a parachute worth $750K as recently as last January.Winston Brooks has a golden...
APS seeks public input on its award winning website
APS is seeking input on its website. You have found yourself two clicks away from participating in an online survey, link. The survey is part of APS' half million dollar a year effort to "communicate" with the community members they serve.A fundamental flaw in APS' award winning website is its fundamental premise. It is a tool of the administration; a tool to be used to their own advantage in controlling the dissemination of...
Winston Brooks "... mild-mannered and unassuming"?
Ok then, here we have it in a nut shell; two schools of thought;APS Supt Winston Brooks is a misogynist and bully who has been caught red handed too many times or,Anyone who knows Brooks knows he is not some irate bully, he's rather mild-mannered and unassuming. This according to "a political analyst" Joe Monahan listens to, link.It's fair to wonder how a mild-mannered and unassuming man how found himself in charge of a more than billion...
Brooks' "in secret" evaluation to continue Friday morning
The APS School Board will meet in secret again Friday morning, link, for the purpose of discussion and action regarding the Superintendent’s Evaluation.They will meet in secret in the face of a self evident conflict of interests.It is in board members and golden parachute signer's on personal best interests, to make their support of the superintendent appear justifiable.The worse the superintendent looks, the worse looks their judgement...
Brooks' many, well, two, successes
In defending their decision to address APS Supt Winston Brooks repeated faux pas by suspending him for three days, School Board President Marty Esquivel pointed to two feathers in Brooks' cap; he has lead two successful bond issue campaigns and has raised APS' graduation rate to near 70%.I would like to shed a little light on "Brooks'" success in raising graduation rates. During Brooks' tenure, the method for calculating graduation rates has changed at least twice. Both times, the new method raised graduation rates...
Brooks defends $250K salary and contract extensions.
"I don't think my salary is out of line," Brooks said.He said it early this year, link.The board had just padded APS Supt Winston Brooks' golden parachute to a full $750K, by extending his contract until 2016 - long after some of the board members who voted in favor, could conceivably have been voted out of office.A lot of folks on the radio and on the backsides of internet, think Brooks should be fired. They are supposing that he,...
To hear Esquivel tell it, it's already "time to move along".
With respect to APS Supt Winston Brooks suspension, everything that needs to be done has been done and, it's time to move along.That according to School Board President Marty Esquivel. More importantly, it's time to move along in the interests of the children.It is good ol' boy justice. And good ol' boy justice is not done in anyone's interests but their own.How is it in the best interests of children to provide them with role...
Esquivel outshines Brooks on shameless misconduct.
I have just read some eleventh hour allegations submitted by APS School Board President Marty Esquivel and his lawyers; lawyers who are litigating without school board oversight and may not have even have actually signed contracts.They have offered up exhibit A. Exhibit A is the result of a struggle that began at Hoover Middle School more than a dozen years ago. They aren't saying where Exhibit A came from. APS Executive...
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