Distinction Without a Difference?

Students used to be "required" to obey rules.

They are now "expected" to obey rules.

The School Board has made a policy change. (emphasis added, and, in significant part)

ALBUQUERQUE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENTS

ATTENDANCE
Students are expected to attend school regularly and on time.

ACHIEVEMENT
Students are expected to achieve academically.

CITIZENSHIP

• Students are expected to be good citizens. Students are expected to: Model and promote the pillars of Character Counts.

• Respect authority, property, and the rights of others.

• Avoid confrontation and any activity that has the potential to cause a verbal or physical conflict.

• Maintain standards of integrity and responsibility.

• Maintain a safe school environment.

• Report any/all information/circumstances related to campus safety, problems (fights, weapons, or drugs on campus).

The question is; if the word expected was replaced by the word required; is there a difference?

If there is a difference, then it makes a difference
which word we use.

The leadership of the APS decided to replace the word required, with the word expected.

The difference between requiring good conduct and competence, and expecting good conduct and competence, is accountability.

The leadership of the APS does not want to be required to be honest and competent.

They would rather be expected to be honest and competent;

because it is easier for the lawyers of Modrall to protect them from allegations that they failed to meet expectations; than it is to defend them against accusations that they have failed to meet requirements, of conduct and competence.

Board policy used to require role models to model and promote higher standards of conduct and competence. Specifically, role models were required to model and promote the same standard of conduct that they established and enforce upon students.

Then the leadership of the APS changed board policy. They removed the language that read; in no case shall the standards of conduct and competence for adults; be lower that the standards for students.

The senior role models in the APS, are no longer required by board policy; to hold themselves honestly accountable as role models of the student standard of conduct.

They have adopted as their standard of conduct; a comparatively meaningless, and by their own admission, completely unenforceable code of ethics.

It can be argued that senior role models are accountable to the student standard of conduct by inescapable ethical and moral obligations.

They have solved that problem. They solved it by lowering the student standard of conduct.

They lowered the student standard of conduct by replacing requirement with expectation in order to lower again, their own standard of conduct.

They changed board policy in secret. Stakeholders were deliberately and methodically denied the truth.


Deceiving stakeholders is only the second worst thing they did.

The first, was changing board policy at all.

If we want, if we really want, our children to grow
to embrace honor and courage and character;
someone has to show them what it looks like.

There is a reason that the very first story we tell children
about character, and courage, and honor,
is the story about honest accountability
to a meaningful standard of conduct.

There is a reason that the first story we tell them,
is about George Washington and the cherry tree.


I wish there was something that could be done
to get Charlie Moore and Bill Slakey
to tell the people who trust them,

...the truth.