“…fear of retaliation or retribution is part of the culture…”

Let me tell you a story about that culture and what it feels like for a teacher in the Albuquerque Public Schools.

The Principal lied to the President of his Student Government about an issue before the government. The Principal told the lie to escape accountability for a decision that he had made.

The teacher attempted to hold the Principal accountable for his misconduct. A complaint was filed with a very senior APS administrator. He told the teacher that “…it doesn’t hurt a kid if their Principal lies to them…” and to stop filing complaints about the principal, except through APS channels.

The message was “stop making complaints”; because APS did not and does not offer a channel for the principled resolution of complaints against administrators or board members.

If they did; they could show it to you.

A “hearing” of the Principal’s objections to the teacher’s efforts to hold him accountable; was scheduled.

Notice of the hearing, a letter, was delivered to the teacher at his school, right after school, in front of students and colleagues. The teacher was greeted by a uniformed police officer, a Sergeant of the APS Praetorian Guard. The office door was immediately closed to allow the whispering and the rumors and the gossip to begin.

As the teacher walked into the hearing, he was handed the results of the “hearing”. In fact, the letter which was placed in the teacher’s personnel file; and later used in an effort to fire him; was dated several days before the “hearing” took place.

The letter is one of a number of public records that are evidence of ethical and criminal misconduct by senior administrators and board members.

And that’s why you will never see it. Even if you file a public records request. Unless you think you can beat Modrall in court.

Anyone who thinks that they can beat Modrall in court fails to comprehend the advantages of an unlimited supply of lawyers and a pipeline to unwitting taxpayer support for the best education for their children.

They once had a State District Court Judge tell the teacher, when he had complained that the lawyers from Modrall had deliberately misrepresented the truth, “…it’s not my job to decide who’s telling the truth…”

That also is on a public record that you can’t have.

They have established ten times that they are not going to willingly accept honest accountability to a meaningful standard of conduct.

In effect, "No, we will NOT be held honestly accountable to any meaningful standard of conduct. As a matter of fact, we will not to be held honestly accountable to any standard at all."

They're getting away with it; because I can’t stop them alone.