Journal reporter Hailey Heinz on her blog, link, reports on a teachers union president who donned handcuffs and duct tape over her mouth in protest during a public meeting over teacher evaluations.The point she was trying to illustrate is how little regard is paid to the opinions of teachers. She is saying what I have been saying for so long.In the APS alone, there are nearly 100,000 years of current and ongoing classroom teaching experience, and no seat at the table where decisions are made about what goes on in classrooms.In...
APS' Phill Casaus' libel
Phill Casaus was for a time, the editor of the Albuquerque Tribune. As such, he, and his paper took a lot of heat from me over their complicity or complacency in the cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators, link.As a reward for his complicity, I argued, link, he was given membership in APS' good ol' boys club; a highly paid slot in APS as the Director of the APS Foundation, link.The first time the...
Esquivel forfeits ignorance plea
APS School Board President, defendant Marty Esquivel is scheduled for deposition this week. He has cancelled before, it would not surprise me if he does again; any day he doesn't lose, he wins.The leadership of the APS, Esquivel; Supt Winston Brooks, Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta, Chief of Police Steve Tellez and Records Custodian Rigo Chavez really, really don't want to be deposed; under oath and on the record.If...
Tellez on tap for sworn deposition
Tomorrow morning, APS Chief of Police Steve Tellez will be attending his sworn deposition regarding his participation in my illegal lifetime ban from board meetings. His signature lies beside APS School Board President Marty Esquivel's.At the time he co-signed, he was Deputy Chief. In the interim he has been promoted to Chief, in secret, link. Promoted I argue, in exchange for his on going complicity in the cover...
Esquivel enjoying "cost is no object" defense
The first in a series of depositions in the federal civil rights suit against APS School Board President Marty Esquivel, APS Supt Winston Brooks, APS Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta, APS Police Chief Steve Tellez, Communications Director Rigo Chavez, and former school board member David Robbins, took place yesterday afternoon.We paid for one lawyer, the defendants paid for two.Well, taxpayers paid for two. Check that, three; in the settlement, taxpayers will be liable for my lawyer too.The last time...
Esquivel continues to hide emails
NM FOG Vice President and Defendant Marty Esquivel continues to refuse to produce the email record surrounding his decision to write a letter banning me from school board meetings for life.Among the emails Esquivel won't produce are exchanges between Esquivel and the district's lawyers. He claims they are protected by attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine.Let's begin by pointing out that attorney-client "protection"...
Eye on Albuquerque takes a hit
The Albuquerque Police Department has fired an employee they believe is involved with a blog called the Eye on Albuquerque. The Eye is routinely highly critical of the leadership of the APD.The legalities of a police department firing an employee for engaging in protected activity (free speech) will no doubt be explored in great detail, and is not the subject of this post. The need for an outlet like the Eye on Albuquerque is.The Eye writes in response;If APD, the City of Albuquerque and Mayor Berry told the truth; the...
Brooks and Walz unlikely to come clean
A profound lack of administrative oversight in the administration the people's power and resources in the APS, allowed a vendor to routinely charge taxpayers $365 for $16 worth of parts and an hour worth of labor.So far, APS Supt Winston Brooks and Journal Managing Editor Kent Walz are all about celebrating the employee who exposed the ripoff. They point to the money being saved to draw attention from the money being wasted.There...
Monahan to dig into "media bullying"
A little more than three years ago, blogger Joe Monahan, link, called on "pit rule" critics to point to "definitive proof that the rule ... cost the state jobs ... ".He made his point when no one pointed to proof.Monday, link, Monahan began anther search for definitive proof; this time of "media bullying". He offered an opportunity for "... any of those reporters, editors or producers want to tell their stories ..."about being...
The APS security camera scandal coverup
We are in agreement that "APS" was routinely paying one of its vendors $365 dollars for $16 worth of parts and about an hour of labor. $8 each for rubber belts and $300 an hour for labor.The APS Board of Education would rather you not think of it as wasting thousands and thousands of dollars. Instead, they would rather you think about the APS employee who stumbled onto the scam and fixed it. In truth, she is lucky she...
Monahan calls Walz out by name
This morning, link, blogger Joe Monahan joined the press calling out Journal Managing Editor Kent Walz by name.(Got that, Kent Walz?)Though, his context doesn't make clear what exactly Monahan is accusing Walz of (not) doing. McCleskey, aka, "The Shadow Governor," because of his influence with Governor Martinez, has become a political hot button because of his fierce attacks on Dems of all stripes and his intimidation of the NM media. (Got that, Kent Walz?)My belief lies in the need for a more direct approach, link, when calling...
APS paying $365 for $16 in parts - installed
APS and the Journal are celebrating an APS employee for saving the district a ton of money, link. It appears that APS (taxpayers) were paying roughly tens times as much to fix its security cameras as the repairs should actually cost.Journal education reporter Hailey Heinz reported the following;Thousands savedThe Albuquerque Public Schools board recognized an employee Wednesday who is saving the district thousands of dollars in surveillance camera maintenance.Melissa Cruz, an APS police dispatcher, was making a routine...
Media coverage of Esquivel and Brooks' lack of oversight
I believe it is fair to say; the Journal, KRQE, KOAT, and KOB TVall know or remain willingly ignorant of the following facts;APS School Board President Marty Esquivel, APS Supt Winston Brooks, APS Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta, APS Chief of Police Steve Tellez, and APS Director of Communications Rigo Chavez (in his capacity as public records custodian) are being sued in federal court over their several...
APS Police - Character Counts! role models?
click on photograph to enlargeIf you look at an APS Police car, you'll find and emblem on the rear corner panel. I believe their police officers wear the same emblem on their left arm.In large print, you read SAFEGUARDING OUR FUTURE.Ostensibly, it is the future of children being safeguarded, in reality, it's the future (and well-being) of board members and senior administrators they're about safeguarding.They admitted they will follow...
Brooks obfuscated examination of his contract
The APS was asked for a copy of APS Supt Winston Brooks' contract. Were APS as transparent as they would like you to believe, the contract would have been produced rather immediately.Instead School Board Executive Director Brenda Yager asked Brooks, whether she should produce the contract, or in the alternative, put the requester through the runaround that is APS' public records game. Brooks ordered her to obfuscate the production.From:...
Korte accused me of making an implied threat
On October 10, 2012, Board Member Kathy Korte sent an email to APS Supt Winston Brooks and a bunch of other people. In her email she accused me of making an "implied threat"From: Katherine Korte [mailto:kathy korte@XXXX]Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 9:53 AMTo: Tellez, Steve L; Winter, Brad D; Overmyer, Karl RCc: Brooks, Winston; Board ED; Yager, Brenda B; Armenta, Monica Subject: another threat I copied and pasted from McQuigg's...
Journal reporter Hailey Heinz, whose side is she on?
Hailey Heinz is only the latest of Journal reporters who don't investigate and report upon credible evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.Hailey Heinz prying the truth out of Brad Winter and Board Member David PeercyI've made a real effort to not hold Journal education reporters personally accountable for the Journal's relentless refusal to tell stakeholders the truth about administrative and executive...
Why do we never ask teachers?
Everyone has an opinion about the ongoing failure in public education. We know what all the heavy hitters think. We know what the Governor and her Public Education Secretary think are the problems and solutions.We know what the APS Supt thinks, and what school board members, newspaper editors, and union presidents think.What we don't know, is what teachers think.What do the people who carry out the orders think about what is...
APS and Esquivel, spending against the public interests and without oversight
APS School Board President Marty Esquivel continues to spend in his own interests, and without oversight.We have recently received DEFENDANT MARTIN ESQUIVEL'S FIRST SUPPLEMENTAL RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFF'S FIRST SET OF REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION TO DEFENDANT MARTIN ESQUIVEL.At the end of the document we find;cc wi encls.:Patrick D. Allen, Esq.Martin Esquivel, Esq.Mike Wilson, Risk Management DirectorJanet Gabriel, Claim AnalystI don't know Risk...
NM FOG VP in emailgate of his own
Defendant Marty Esquivel is the new Vice President of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.He is also a politician and public servant; he is the President of the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education.He does the business of a school board member by means of emails. Because it is public business, public records are created. The emails are public records.It appears that Esquivel used one or more personal email...
A child who wants to learn, will want to learn to read.
A child who wants to learn to read will learn to read.The current approach to teaching reading is to compel students to learn to read what somebody else wants them to read instead of what they would rather be reading instead. By definition, if you offer a child something they want to read, they will want to read it. And conversely, if you offer a child some they want less to read, they will want less to read it.What practical purpose is served by having students learn to read in unison? What practical purpose...
More money for education or, more education for the money?
KKOB's Bob Clark will be discussing money and public education this morning, link.The discussion will focus as it always does on the causal correlation between the amount of money spent and the amount of education delivered. There is no such. If there were, we would be spending more on education and be done with it.In truth perfectly good education can be achieved on occasion in the worst of financial circumstances and, the best of circumstances there is equivalent failure.The real stumbling block in public education...
Accountability in the leadership of the APS
In my search for inspiration for a post on accountability in the leadership of the APS. I always go first to the Wikipedia and as usual, found an excellent reference, link, on accountability. I recommend the investment of your time and attention to it.The opening paragraph, here quoted in significant part and edited according to my own interests;In ethics and governance, accountability is answerability (sic), blameworthiness,...
APS wasting $1,000 a day
Honestly, I couldn't begin to tell you how much APS actually spends on a daily basis, litigating in the self interests of board members and senior administrators. I wouldn't be surprised to find, there is no one in the leadership of the APS who could tell you, or would if they could.I'm talking about the money and effort they spend, simply to delay for one more day, the exposure of their particular corruption or incompetence. ...
Journal editors easily impressed
Journal Editor Kent WalzEither out of consideration for their friends in the leadership of the APS, or because they really don't get it, the editors have penned a glowing review, link, of APS' progress in the latest round of Standards Based Assessment.Standards Based Assessment, wikilink, is supposed to measure student learning, and by extension, school performance. The tests are a poor measure of both. Imagine a test designed...
Do APS students have a right to role models of student standards of conduct?
APS' Board of Education has established student standards of conduct. If asked to point to them, they will point to the Student Behavior Handbook. It is a poor excuse for "standards of conduct". The Handbook does cite actual standards of conduct; the Pillars of Character Counts! link.Students are "expected to model and promote the Pillars of Character Counts; Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Fairness and,...
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