according to the story in the Trib.
"The only way we can find out what is going on is for someone to come forward and let us know."said Beth Daley of the Project on Government Oversight, an independent, nonprofit group that investigates corruption.
"But when they do, the weight of the government comes down on them."
"The message is, `Don't blow the whistle, or we'll make your life hell."
"It's heartbreaking,"
"There is an even greater need for whistle-blowers now. But they are made into public martyrs. It's a disgrace. Their lives get ruined."
"Sometimes people ask me, `Should I do this?' And my answer is no."said William Weaver, professor of political science at the University of Texas-El Paso and senior adviser to the National Security Whistle-blowers Coalition.
"If they're married, they'll lose their family. They will lose their jobs. They will lose everything,"
"If you do it, you will be destroyed,"
Reading the story triggered an anxious response in me;
bringing back all the repressed memories of the consequences I suffered as a whistle-blower.
Consequences that pale in comparison to those suffered by a man who I have come to know recently. He blew the whistle on a fraud involving hundreds of thousands of tax dollars at APS' Charter Vocational High School. For standing in defense of the public interests, he was beaten nearly to death in the parking lot of the school he was protecting, as a police officer.
I would not compare my experience to his except for their one commonality; the administrators, board members, and lawyers who run APS still deny us both, a principled resolution of our complaints of retribution and retaliation.
No one who has not blown the whistle on public corruption, can even begin to understand the torrent of abuse that ensues.
A whistle-blower's complaint is not defended by the individual subject of the complaint. A principled resolution of the complaint will be resisted by the entire organization and all of the resources it can bring to bear.
In 2003, the Council of the Great City Schools audited the administration of the APS. They concluded that the culture of the APS included retribution and retaliation against whistle-blowers.
The culture of the leadership of the APS has not changed since that audit. Monica Armenta can not provide a single record that shows a change in policy as the result of that audit.
The Council of the Great City Schools, in its most recent audit, specifically cited the failure of the leadership of the APS to address problems identified in previous audits.
Consider the Whistle-blower policy most recently adopted by the leadership of the APS.
The policy protects only those employees who " ...report possible unlawful or dishonest use or misuse of Albuquerque Public School property...".
A teacher who reports a principal who falsifies public records of fire drills, and lies to the student council in order to manipulate the outcome of their deliberations; can still see his or her career and reputation destroyed by malevolent administrators and board members, who are themselves protected the Modrall law firm.
By the deliberate decision of the school board, five of whom still sit on the school board, no protection is offered to those who report incompetence and corruption. Those whistle-blowers will suffer all of the consequences that can be mustered by the leadership of the APS and their law firm; Modrall.
The lawyers of the Modrall law firm, whose President is married to School Board President Paula Maes, feed at a virtually bottomless trough of taxpayer support for "education". The public record of their feeding habits will not be surrendered even in apparent violation of the law.
The Modrall law firm litigates to protect the interests of the leadership of the APS; even at the expense of the public interests.
Their record, the record that they steadfastly refuse to surrender to public knowledge, includes litigating exceptions to the law. It is a record including litigating escape from the consequences of public corruption and incompetence.
No one in the leadership of the APS will ever be held accountable for retribution and retaliation against whistle-blowers by a system that they control; protected by unscrupulous lawyers and unlimited resources.
An honest audit of the competence and conduct of the leadership of the APS, will take place over the considerable objection of the corrupt and the incompetent in the leadership of the APS, and their lawyers at Modrall.
They are protected as well by the Journal and Trib
who have an inescapable, albeit unenforceable obligation
to report the truth to stakeholders;
...and will not.
5 comments:
I was wondering,was the teachers union helpful in defending you or your friend?
I can't speak for his union.
As for mine; not much good in a fight.
Thought that might be the case. I've heard I'm really wasting my money, should get teacher insurance through my homeowners insurance instead.
Keep up the good fight, there will be more joining, as soon as we retire.
"Because I cannot do everything at once; does not mean that I cannot do something; at once." unk
You fight when and where you can.
While the ATF may not be the best union to represent you in a fight; they are the only game in town.
The only alternative is to join those who are doing nothing to advance the cause of teachers and teaching in the APS.
The Union in Albuquerque is a catch-22. The total membership is about 30% of educators. If it were 80% they could flex their muscles more powerfully.
I have talked to the President and she seems to be very well meaning and even helped me a couple of times even though I wasn't a member. Out of gratitude and respect, I joined soon after.
I am a union member, but many are not. Perhaps if more people were mebers, then they would have more power? What they would do with advanced power...who knows... but I'm not dubious of them.
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