Thursday, January 31, 2008

Education Reporters; Conspicuous in Their Absense.

Why have none of Susie Gran, Zsombor Peter, nor
Andrea Schoellkopf done an expose on the single
most blatant and egregious violation of school rules
and of school board policy, by students?

... sagging

Is it because? they are not allowed to investigate and
report upon the issue of students being routinely
permitted to engage in prohibited behavior

in plain sight, and without consequence.


Is it because? they can't report upon sagging without
reporting the failure of the leadership of the APS
to enforce their own board policy, even on students.



and that students are in charge in schools in the APS

...every single hour, of every single day,
and in every single school.

The leadership of the APS cannot show stakeholders
even the simplest form of
a District Wide Discipline Philosophy.

No one has ever put one together.

In all of these years they have never found it necessary
to underpin their policies with philosophical foundation.
That is why so many of their policies are philosophically
indefensible. That is why their policies so often fail.


That is why kids are sagging on every school campus in APS.


And it is never going to change.


Because the leadership of the APS are accountable to no one.

Albuquerque Public Schools: "OUT OF CONTROL"

If there is a school district that has
a widely published and well understood rule;

and that rule is being broken in plain sight
and in blatant defiance of that rule;

at virtually every middle and high school;

with impunity

is that school district out of control,

or not?

Who's "in charge" at these schools;

the folks who write the rules,

or the folks who ignore the rules?





I wouldn't have to keep asking the same question
over and over again

if anyone in the entire leadership of the APS
would answer it just once,


candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.





this not about just "sagging"of course
>>wiki link <<

Too Long Out of the Classroom

Most of the members of the APS board of education
have no public school teaching experience at all.
(I will bow to controverting fact)

Most of the senior administrative leadership
hasn't been in a classroom in decades.
(and again)

What if each of them were to sign up to be a substitute,
in a substitute teaching assignment selected for its realism

for even one day every year?


Wouldn't it be interesting to watch school board president
Paula "... it's OK to get in a teacher's face once in awhile ..." Maes

while some dipstick,
and either or both of his dipstick parents,
and their dipstick lawyer




... get in her face.



sweet ...
... where can I buy a ticket?

More money; more work days for teachers

On a piece by Zsombor Peter and the Journal

When it comes to teacher salaries,
there is a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand, teachers make a decent hourly wage;
the starting wage is somewhere in the neighborhood of
$25 per hour plus benefits.

On the other hand, teachers work less than one day in two, and for only 6.5 hours a day.

Non teachers typically work 250 days times 8 hours;
or 2000 hours a year.

A teacher works 182 days times 6.5 hours;
or less than 1200 hours per year. *
What teachers, and others on a 182 day contract have,
is a permanent part time job that pays well
when viewed from the standpoint of an hourly wage,
but not so well when viewed as an annual salary.

It appears that they would be making $62.5K per year
when they are only taking home $37.5K. Plus benefits.

Unless increasingly wary and resentful taxpayers
are willing to raise teacher hourly rates,
which seems unlikely under the circumstances,

the obvious solution is to make school days and/or years longer.

The 180 school year is based on an agrarian calendar.
Kids used to work on the farm or ranch all summer.


Why shouldn't kids be in school all year long?

Why aren't the length and frequency of vacations
data driven decisions surrounding the actual needs of students?

Perhaps a four day week, all year long,
for students who are making adequate progress,
(four days times 50 weeks is equal to 200 school days.)

and a five day week, all year long,
for teachers, and for students in need of remediation.
(five days times 50 weeks is equal to 250 school days.)

While it cannot be denied that there are those in teaching, expressly for the short workday and vacations; it is not they, who should be determining the length of school days and years.

* The calculation honestly, is not quite that simple, because it does not take into account the hours that teachers spend working outside the duty day. In that regard, some teachers routinely spend several hours a day, outside the duty day, grading papers and preparing lessons.
And there are of course, some teachers arrive late, and leave early.



On a different subject, but from the same article;
What bothers some ATF members is the way the union arrived at its position— without them.
In typical negotiations with APS, the union formally consults with its members before striking any deals.
"This is a little different," Bernstein said.
...
the ATF had no time to consult members.
Almost exactly the words Beth Everitt used when she moved a bunch of principals around in her administrative Chinese fire drill * a few months ago.

* "... any large, ineffective, and chaotic exercise." >>wikilink<<

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Site Based Management in an educational setting.

Site based management begins with the premise that
all decision making power and resources are delegated
directly to the educational interface;
the place where the student and the system meet.

From that power and those resources, is extracted
just enough power and resources to protect
the power and resources from waste through
corruption or incompetence.

Policy at the school is created by stakeholders.
Local policies are created by local stakeholders.
Global polices are crated by global stakeholders.
Decisions are made at the lowest possible level.

Competent facilitators and compliance "experts"
are provided to ensure that the decision making
process allows meaningful participation by every
interested stakeholder; and complies with a myriad
of laws and regulations.

Administrators administer the policies that the school community creates.

A system exists, to keep things under control;
but not by keeping things under control.

In contrast;
site based management in the APS means;

stakeholders will be given a chance
to try to change their principal's mind.

If you ask them "Who decides, who decides?" enough times, they will finally admit that all power and resources ultimately belong to administrators.



Take for example, the process for selecting new principals.

Not withstanding that the leadership of the APS
unilaterally suspended the whole process at their whim to enable the principal shuffle;

the process normally sees stakeholders creating lists of candidates acceptable as the next principal of their school;

or a list of candidates acceptable as their next superintendent;

a list long enough to contain the name of the candidate that the folks with the power want to install, and voila!

stakeholders mistakenly believe that they participated meaningfully in the process when in truth they have merely been manipulated.



Real Site based management is diametrically opposite to the top down design of the APS.

In the APS, the school board first takes control of public power and resources. They build themselves all of the board rooms and office space they need, keep control over as much power as they can get away with, and then pass what's left to the superintendent;

who strips all of the power and resources she can
before passing what is left to assistant superintendents,
deputy superintendents, directors, executive directors, ...

who strip as much power and resources as they can
before passing what is left to the next layer of bureaucrats.

Each feathering their nest with
with power and resources and underlings.

the next layer theirs, the next theirs, and so on,
until the money and decision making power
finally end up at the educational interface
in amounts too small to make any real difference.

Real site based management sees the power and the money going directly to schools who spend what ever part of both as they see fit, on administration and education.

Real site based management in the APS is doomed by human nature.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
socrates

The people with the control over our power and resources will not surrender it voluntarily.

They will not even talk about surrendering it

... at least not voluntarily.

Is Joe an asshole? Is that a bad thing, or a good thing?

"Debate Brings Character Flaw to Light"
On Mario Burgos' blog >>link<<

Darren White's last(?) secret debate.

The discussion led to a least one reader who thinks that Joe is an asshole.

Disclosure of my bias;

There are quite a few people who think that I am an asshole.

Every single administrator in the APS who is corrupt, incompetent, or an enabler of corruption and incompetence thinks I am an asshole.

Linda Sink thinks I'm an asshole.

Paula Maes thinks I'm an asshole.

Marty Chavez thinks I'm an asshole.

Kari Brandenburg thinks I'm an asshole.

Darren White thinks I'm an asshole.

Thomas Lang, Kent Walz, Phill Casaus,
Michelle Donaldson, Thomas Pearl, and
Sue Stephens all think I'm an asshole.
If the commenter or anyone else thinks Joe is an asshole,

and for the same reasons I am an asshole;

then I say "go assholes!"

and go Joe!


If being as asshole >>link<<
were the worst we had to tolerate in public servants,
the world would be a far better place;

it is in fact among the least worst of character flaws
that we routinely suffer in our public servants.

Alb. Journal Still Pushing Sink for Supt.

The Journal has given Interim Superintendent Linda Sink
yet another front page spread in support of her "candidacy".

When was the last time a candidate for APS Superintendent
got two front page spreads
before the other candidates were even identified?

Shameless.

Tommy Lang, Kent Walz, and/or whomever else
at the Journal is pushing Sink's candidacy,
does so at the cost of public confidence
in the entire selection process.

If, when, she is ultimately hired, there will always be
a lingering doubt over the process by which
the existing administrative leadership effectively retained

  • control over the APS,
  • control over public records
    of public corruption, and criminal conspiracy
  • control over evidence that speaks to Darren White's conduct and competence
  • control over evidence that speaks related to Kari Brandenburg's conduct and competence
  • control over the record of APS/Maes/Modrall's conduct and competence,

    and most importantly of all;

  • control over the future of an immediate, full scale administrative accountability audit.

Sink has already let it slip that she has no intention
of commissioning an audit that would not only expose
the corrupt and incompetent in the leadership of the APS;

but
would likely expose the ties to the the media,
including the Journal, that have enabled hiding
the truth about the APS ethics and accountability scandal
heretofore.

If the other candidates were even known,

Thomas Lang could express his support for a candidate;
on the editorial page;

but not hidden on the front page in disguise.

This shameless promotion of "their" candidate
before the process is even firmly underway,
is entirely inappropriate

and illuminates the collusion between the Journal
and APS leadership, to pervert the process and
to effectively disenfranchise APS stakeholders,

to install "their" first pick;

a superintendent with a proven track record

of deliberately lying to stakeholders. >>link<<


Remember that the last step in the process
is when the school board secretly selects a name
from a list of names
long enough to include Linda Sink's.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Student Leaders are off to the legislature.

APS is taking our best and brightest young leaders
on a field trip to the legislature to learn what, exactly?

According to the APS website >>link<<

The group of about 26 student leaders
and faculty advisors representing eight
Albuquerque Public Schools high schools
will travel to Santa Fe early Friday morning
to see state legislators in action...

They will miss a day of school, subs will be hired,
maybe a bus, meals, whatever.

There will be substantial amounts of time and energy
and resources invested in perhaps a dozen
of Albuquerque's most promising young people;
our future community and political leaders.

And the trip would be will worth the investment
if the young leaders go back to their schools
and galvanized their classmates into political action,

in outrage over learning that the power and resources
that they entrust to their government,
are being doled out to lobbyists who just bought
$840,000 worth of grease with legislators, politicians,
and public servants in Santa Fe.

And in outrage over learning that the legislature has
no intention of passing any meaningful ethics reform.
They never have, and they never will.

Or,

will some senior representative of state government,
perhaps Governor Bill Richardson himself,
step up to a podium and explain to those children,

the good and ethical reason why

in their lives, students are held accountable
to meaningful standards of conduct and competence,

because we believe that, that is in their best interests,
and in the best interests of their community.

But their role models in public schools and government
some of the senior most roles in their community
are not honestly accountable
to any standards of conduct and competence at all.

Not even for the measly few hours a day,

they exercise our power, and spend our resources.

Or,

will they get to go on a bus ride
and check out some really cool buildings?

If the APS is not going to be split into 163 "districts"

Why split it at all?

If the community, by and through their school board,

does not trust individual school communities
to spend their fair share of decision making power
and resources, in the best interests of their children,

if we are not going to implement site based management,
(which is exactly what the public is demanding,
though they don't know the buzzword)


and assuming that a layer of administration will be
actually eliminated; a debatable assumption;

how does eliminating a layer of administration,
increase the accountability to parents and voters,
of the remaining layers and layers of administration?

It doesn't.

lobbyists contributed $843,000 to NM campaigns

according to an article in the Trib >>link<<

Those lobbyists expect nothing in return;

right, ... and a single serving of
Pepperidge Farm Mint Milanos >>link<<
is 3 cookies.

Albuquerque Publics Schools' Hoodwink Award

Hoodwink: To cause to believe what is not true,
to give a false impression, to practice deceit,
to take in by deceptive means, deceive, conceal, mislead
betray, beguile, delude, dupe, bamboozle, double-cross.

The leadership of the APS by and through their
Executive Director of Communications, Monica Armenta
have hoodwinked stakeholders.

Stakeholders have been hoodwinked into believing
that the public servants in the leadership of the APS,
stewards of a billion tax dollars a year, senior role models
for 90,000 of the community's sons and daughters,

are accountable as role models
are accountable as stewards of the public trust and treasure
are accountable as public servants

to meaningful standards of conduct and competence.

They are not.

If they were, their million tax dollars a year
Communications Department would be able
to point to those meaningful standards,
and to a system powerful enough
to hold senior administrators and board members
accountable to those standards,
even against their will.

and even against will of a million tax dollars a year
worth of Maes/Modrall lawyers.

Hoodwinked by Ethics Reform

"The third HOODWINK AWARD goes to the New Mexico Legislature for its attempt at fooling the public into thinking that they actually are trying to reform their own ethical conduct and standard. "
New Mexico State Senator Joe Carraro

>>link<<

How Do You Get Past "no comment" ?

How can you seriously consider voting for someone,
who when asked a legitimate question about
their public service, responds with

"no comment"?


Why is their candidacy viable for another instant?


Darren White; during your public service as
the Secretary of Public Safety, did you in fact,
receive a vote of "no confidence" from subordinates
in the rank and file of the NM State Police?

Why won't you disclose the circumstances
... candidly, forthrightly, honestly?


Why won't the media, upon whom voters rely,
ask the questions and print the answers?

You'll have to ask Thomas J Lang, Kent Walz,
Phill Casaus, Michelle Donaldson, Thomas Pearl,

or Sue Stephens.

I have asked, repeatedly. So far, their response is

... no comment.

D6 Got It RIght; Darren White Won't Face the Truth

Darren White has reason apparently, to avoid public questions;

An especially interesting question he must avoid;

Did Darren White resign as the Secretary of Public Safety over a dispute with Governor Gary Johnson over decriminalizing marijuana?
Or was that an excuse offered to cover up the fact that he had recently received a vote of "no confidence" from his subordinates in the NM State Police?

the one a matter of principle and honor,

the other decidedly less.

Education "Leadership" Grasping at Straws

Grasping at straws; 2. trying to find some way to succeed when nothing you choose is likely to work.

NMPED Secretary Veronica Garcia has found ten schools that are apparently "doing it right" and thinks they can be a model for failing schools to emulate. Never mind that "doing it right" cannot be qualified or quantified.

A school that "works", a school that is "doing it right",
has a synergy that cannot be simply copied and created at another school.

APS Board Member Delores Griego
says dividing APS into two or more fiefdoms will fix what is wrong in the APS.

Schools that are stifled by layers of administration, will not be less stifled if the layers of bureaucrats are reduced from four to three.

The solution that will work includes;

  • Give individual schools their share of resources and decision making power.
  • Allow schools to write their own policies to address their own issues.
  • Hire administrators to administer those policies, and to assure compliance with appropriate laws and regulations.
  • Delegate power and resources, eliminate the layers and layers of bureaucracy that needlessly consume resources and make global decisions to address local problems.
End wistful thinking that there are administrators
who are smarter than all of us combined,

and we just haven't located enough of them yet.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Voters, Taxpayers and Parents "... will have to spring out of a bush ..."

if they expect to ask a question of school board president Paula Maes, face to face.

... a tenet of long standing in the
APS Communications Department.

... explains why there is no longer a public forum
on the record of regular school board meetings.

Blogosphere; Goes Ape On Secret Debate

This may be the issue that unites the legitimate
political blogospere. Everyone is really pissed.
Nearly everyone has something to say, and are
saying the same thing.

Albeit cloaked beneath some need to create
a specious connection between corruption and
someone else's political philosophy;

they will ultimately come to a concensus;

There is no legitimate political agenda
that does not advance on the day that
politicians finally get it.
We have had it with their secret debates.

We're done. No more. No more secret
committee meetings, no more secret votes,
no more secrets period.

Transparent accountability to meaningful
standards of conduct and competence;

or get the hell out.




No matter what party you claim to represent.

Did Joe Cararro Pull One Over on the Media?

imho

If Joe Carraro had turned down the secret debate
on principle,
his stand would not have been reported by the media
who support Darren White.

If on the other hand, Mr. Carraro arranged it so
reporters' noses would be unceremoniously rubbed
in the cow flop of the arrogance of the folks
who run the Republican Party hereabouts ...?

back and forth, to and fro, this side, then that,
up, down, round and round, in, out, in the hair,
in the ears, up the nose, ...



Suddenly, Darren White's secret debate is news.


>link< bovine bingo
>link< cow flop fundraiser

Single Issue Politics

Who ya gonna trust;
the guy who whats to turn the lights on;
Joe Carraro apparently.

or the guy who is willing to keep the lights off
for any reason at all?

... Darren White.

"Conspiracy Nut" Lists Conspirators' Names On Internet!

The Conspiracy;

A cover up of an ethics and accountability scandal
in the leadership of the APS.
The Purpose;
to prevent public knowledge
and public outrage over the scandal.
The Motive;
public knowledge and the consequent outrage
would lead to an accountability audit of the
leadership of the APS, and consequences
ranging from public disgrace to civil and
criminal penalties for many prominent
public servants, senior APS administrators,
and APS Board of Education members
past and present.
The Corroboration;
Each have had a personal opportunity
to draw public attention to the scandal,
and chose not to.
The Simple Proof;
If theirs was a record of trying to expose the scandal, they would be on the record now
as
trying to expose the scandal.
Each and every one of them has had
an opportunity to respond on the record and
has chosen instead, to stonewall;
the only defense of an indefensible position.
The Premise;
Overt participation in a conspiracy to deliberately deceive hundreds of thousands of voters, is unacceptable conduct from public servants, role models, and journalists.

And even their tacit participation
in this cover up is not acceptable conduct.

Is is especially unacceptable conduct for role models.

It is supremely unacceptable conduct
if their tacit approval is in conflict with
a manifest public interest.

Nor is tacit conspiracy acceptable from public figures
who have espoused important principles in public,
and then betrayed those principles in secret
by failing to stand up for what they claimed
they believe in.

They were; and they are still,
inescapably obligated to stand up for
what they believe in.


The Conspirators, then;
(heads of chains of command)

  • Michael Josephson, Founder of Character Counts
  • Senator Pete Domenici, Founder of Character Counts
  • Heather Wilson, Congressional Representative
  • Bill Richardson, Governor
  • Kari Brandenburg, District Attorney
  • Darren White, Bernalillo County Sheriff and
    candidate for the first congressional seat.
  • Marty Chavez, Mayor, self proclaimed founding father
    of Character Counts in Albuquerque
  • Paula Maes, President of the Board of Education,
    President of the Character Counts Leadership Council,
    President of the NM Broadcasters Association, and
    adoring wife of the President of the Modrall Law Firm,
  • and Linda Sink/Beth Everitt APS Superintendent

With the aide and abet of;

  1. Thomas Lang, publisher
  2. Kent Walz, editor
  3. Phill Casaus, managing editor
  4. Michelle Donaldson, KRQE TV
  5. Sue Stephens, KOB TV
  6. Thomas Pearl, KOAT TV


All of which begs the question; do you the reader
thinl it is scandalous ...?
  • for the leadership of the APS
    to except themselves from accountability
    to any meaningful standard of conduct or competence? even the law?
  • that they have simply abdicated as
    APS most senior role models for students, staff, and community?
  • for the leadership of the APS
    to secretly pay Paula Maes' husband's law firm
    millions of dollars to litigate their exception to the law?
  • for the good ole boys in the local media to cover the asses of the good ole boys in the APS, BSCO, and the and the DA's Office; and in congress?



As for me, I say
yes, it is scandalous.

As for you, it is up to you;
and I say, let your conscience be your guide.

Darren White Will Not Be Honest

You have to wonder, why?

But not for very long. There is only one reason;
the truth is worse than the lying.

Darren White knows the truth about the illegal use of his computer data base by the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools.

He has yet to tell that truth candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

You have to wonder,
why?

What is being covered up, that a candidate for congress must be part of the cover up?

What is being covered up, that District Attorney Kari Brandenburg must be part of the cover up?

And Mayor Marty Chavez? Senator Pete Domenici's Office, Chamber of Commerce President Terri Cole?

What is being covered up, that Thomas J Lang, Kent Walz, Phill Casaus, Michelle Donaldson, Thomas Pearl, and Sue Stephens must be part of the cover up?


All that any one of these people has to do to prove
that I am the lunatic conspiracy nut, and
disgruntled former employee that they would like
to dismiss me as,

is to tell the truth about the public corruption and
criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS,
BCSO, DA's O, and the media.


... candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.



In the absence of any controverting proof,
I will continue to maintain that
while I am a disgruntled former employee,
I am neither a lunatic, nor a conspiracy nut.

Someone is Lying; Joe Carraro, or Darren White and Rory Ogle.

The fallout from the secret debate
between Joe Carraro and Darren White, isn't over.

Joe Carraro says, he never agreed to the secret debate,
and freely admitted inviting the media.

Rory Ogle says, both candidates agreed to the rules.

Darren White says, Joe agreed to the rules, too.

Although, it sounds like White is trying to dilute
his own guilt, using a variation of the time honored
grade school defense; "everybody else is doing it".
Is he saying he has first hand knowledge,
or is he repeating hearsay?


What are we to conclude?

It doesn't make much sense that Joe Carraro would do both; agree to a secret debate, and invite the media.

He did invite the media, ergo, it seems unlikely that
he would also agree to protect Darren White from
inconvenient and public questions about
his conduct and competence as the county sheriff.

Carraro stood up publicly for opening the debate.

White sat on his ass.

According to Coco, the Duke City Fix >link<;
This restricting access thing may come naturally to our Sheriff who seems to have a skill set for this kind of crowd control. He required citizens to sign a loyalty oath to the Republican Party in order to get tickets to see Vice President Cheney when he came to Rio Rancho High School. He also exercised this specialty when Bush visited the North Valley and he was sued for that.


So will being handsome, white, republican and privileged
buy this good ole boy a bye on his record?


That would be the fallout, yet to fall.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Darren White's Secret Debate

According to a post on Democracy for New Mexico and a report in the Las Cruces Sun-News

Darren White and Joe Carraro met for a debate Saturday.
A secret debate. Carraro spoke out on the record against the secret meeting.

It's a public meeting between two candidates for public office in a public place and it's closed to the media. What are you afraid of?" State Sen. Joe Carraro, who is seeking the GOP nomination in the 1st District, said after the meeting. "It needs to be transparent. We need to not go behind closed doors."
"Darren White said,
"I would have no problem with the media attending any of these events, but I didn't set the rules" .
Sounds like Beth Everitt saying
"I'd love to tell you the truth about the corruption in the police department, and in the finance department, and at the Uptown Administrative Complex, but the law won't let me."
Or District Attorney Kari Brandenburg saying
"I'd love to release public records of public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS and the BCSO, but the law won't let me."


According to the Sun;
"The man who set up the debate, Rory Ogle, said later that it was his decision, not the candidates' choice, to close the meeting to journalists.

He said there were "a lot of people in the audience running as delegates to the state preprimary convention and I wanted them to feel free to ask any questions from the candidates."

Those attending the forum do not normally deal with the press and they might hesitate to ask questions for fear of embarrassing the candidates or because they think they would sound stupid, he said.

Ogle said he talked personally with Carraro and White about the rules ahead of time.

Carraro denied that he agreed to closing the meeting ahead of time."


Any candidate who will not answer any legitimate question in public and on the record, for that reason alone, forfeits any reasonable expectation that voters would trust them.

Apparently, White later claimed that he did not stand up against secret debating, because he didn't want to embarrass the brainiac who decided to hold a secret debate in the first place.

Joe Carraro should not have participated in a secret debate, but give him credit at least for standing up for what he believes in publicly before allowing the doors to be closed.

Darren White on the other hand, never found the balls
to take a public stand on secret debates.

The worst thing that any public servant can do
is anything they have to do in secret.


Both of them are running against Martin Heinrich;
the Democrat candidate in the first congressional district.
"He's for transparency in government, not secrecy."
according to Democracy for New Mexico.


Not surprisingly, this story is not being covered by the Journal (I will bow to controverting fact).
(Mea culpa; I missed the story, Saturday morning. >link<)

Truth "not telling" Costing Taxpayers $1M a Year

What can APS' Executive Director of Communications
do for a million tax dollars a year,

that could not be done better by a dozen
high school communication and journalism programs
each with annual budgets for state of the art technology,
of almost $90K a year, every year;

except lie?

High schoolers would have to be candid, forthright and honest. If asked how much money the leadership of the APS has squandered at the Uptown Administrative Complex; they are required by their standard of conduct to tell the truth.

Monica Armenta, on the other hand, is not. The code of conduct to which she is accountable does not prohibit deliberate deception of stakeholders; except at the point where it violates the law.

So, instead of having twelve of the most polished communication and journalism programs in the world,

we are paying Monica Armenta to deliberately deceive stakeholders.

While that may be worth a million dollars a year
to the leadership of the APS;
I doubt that many stakeholders would agree.


Ms. Armenta, and the leadership of the APS, could refute this allegation.

All they have to do is to show stakeholders their standards of conduct and competence, (requiring candid, forthright, and honest responses to legitimate questions);

And the system by which they are held accountable to those standards;

the system under which I can file a complaint regarding
Ms. Armenta's lack of candor, forthrightness and honesty.

And not be met by a team of Modrall lawyers on a unlimited budget of unwitting taxpayer support for education, and who's mission is not to refute that allegation;

... but rather, to utterly destroy the complainant.

Splitting APS on School Board Agenda

According the district website >link<, the school board will discuss and then take action tomorrow, on splitting the APS into (at least) two districts.

"B. Proposal for Splitting the District (Discussion / Action)"
The meeting is a "special" meeting, not on the regular
schedule of board meetings. Most stakeholders will not
even know that the discussion/action has taken place.

Unclear, why the APS Communications Department
has made no effort to communicate with the community
on an obviously important issue.

One would think that Paula Maes/Modrall et al
didn't want to hear public input on the issue.

Perhaps, it is not so "unclear" after all.

Blogs Offer "Honest to God" Truth

Not all of them of course. But if readers are willing to look,
somewhere there is a blog telling the "honest to God"
truth about every single important issue.

Because they are beholding to no one,
blog reporters have the freedom to tell the truth.

Newspaper reporters and broadcast journalists
do not.

It is not they who decide which truth will be told.

It is the Tommy Langs, and the Michelle Donaldsons
of the world who dispense the truth according their
personal agendas.

Do bloggers have personal agendas? Of course.

But because there are so many bloggers,
all of the agendas , the honest and the dishonest,
are on the table. The truth is there to be gleaned.

All readers have to do is to discern the wheat from the chaff.


Start by asking tough questions;
that's what post comments are about.
Bloggers will answer your questions because
their credibility is at stake.

Publishers and media moguls
won't take questions at all,
for the same reason.

If you ask me why I am covering the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS,
I will tell you why.

If you ask Tommy Lang, Michelle Donaldson,
or any other media power broker why they will not cover the APS ethics and accountability scandal,
they won't answer the question at all.


... separating the wheat, from the chaff.

Monica Armenta Needs Another Assistant

An advertisement in the Sunday Journal reveals that APS is trying to hire another "communication specialist."

For an annual salary of between $41K and $47K,
far more than a beginning teacher makes,
the new specialist will;

  • assist in planning, preparing and implementing public relations campaigns( to draw public attention away from real problems, and focus it instead the district's success stories.)
  • Assist in planning and updating the district web site, (in order to keep it one of the most user unfriendly and fundamentally worthless websites on the internet.)
  • Represent the district on radio, television, and it the print media. (requires the willingness to sell one's soul for a $1K a week.)


The real upside for the successful applicant will be
the opportunity to work directly under Monica Armenta.

The new apprentice prevaricator will learn how
to move their lips without speaking;

kind of like a ventriloquist,
backwards.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Public enlightenment is the foundation of democracy

from the preamble of the code of ethics of the
Society of Professional Journalists. >>wikiLink<<

"... public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice
and the foundation of democracy.


The duty of the journalist is to further those ends
by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues."


As with every standard of conduct
there those who talk the talk, and don't walk the walk.

A standard is worth nothing; and there is no difference
between the greatest standard and the least, if neither is enforced.

Albuquerque journalists are violating their code of ethics;
because they are not accountable to their code of ethics.


If asked, they will say that they are accountable.
If asked to prove it, they can not.


Good ole boys clubs don't publish membership lists.

I am assuming that the following people are the
the good ole boys, who are reasonably responsible for
the ignorance of (voter) stakeholders regarding
the ethics and accountability scandal in the highest
levels of the leadership of the APS.


Thomas J Lang, Albuquerque Journal
Phill Casaus, Albuquerque Tribune
Kent Walz, Albuquerque Journal
Michelle Donaldson, KRQE News
Thomas Pearl, KOAT News
Sue Stephens, KOB News

Ladies and gentlemen,
Is there even one of you who will explain, defend, or even acknowledge
your apparent failure to seek the truth and provide
a fair and comprehensive account,
with respect to credible allegations*
of
public corruption and criminal conspiracy

in the leadership of the APS?

Any answer except yes, means no.




*For starters, the senior administration and school board have;
  • have abdicated as role models for students, by excepting themselves from accountability to the student standard of conduct.
  • deliberately and methodically excepted themselves from accountability to any meaningful standard of conduct at all,
    even the law.
  • funneled enormous amounts of money to the Modrall law firm for the purpose of litigating exception from accountability for their conduct and competence as public servants.
  • steadfastly refused to begin an immediate full scale forensic audit of the administration of the public trust and treasure in the administration of the APS.
  • steadfastly refused to surrender public records of spending at the Uptown Administrative Complex,
  • steadfastly refused to surrender public records of public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS (police dept), and
  • steadfastly refused to surrender public records of the relationship between the leadership of the APS and the Modrall.

Friday, January 25, 2008

The FBI Trusted Darren White

with one of the most sophisticated and secure
computer data bases available to law enforcement.

He allowed it to be used to harass a man who blew the whistle on millions of dollars worth of fraud at the
APS Charter Vocational High School.

He allowed it to be used to investigate the background of a girl friend of an APS Deputy Superintendent.

He allowed it to be used by God knows who,
for God knows what.



Whether it was through his incompetence,
or through his corruption, makes a difference.

But not much.

His continuing refusal to tell the truth
tells the truth.


The FBI may have to continue to give him
access to their data base,

but they can't trust him anymore;


And neither can voters in the First Congressional District.


He will, of course, have the endorsement of Tommy Lang
and rest of the good ole boys in the media.

Publisher Thomas Lang, Off to Prison!

all we need is a law
that recognizes that a newspaper publisher
who knowingly allows, or negligently permits,
the deliberate deception of hundreds of thousands of voters,
has committed treason.

Read up on treason here >>> WikiTreason<<<

before you try to tell me I'm wrong.

Darren White Named in NMAGO Complaint

Congressional Candidate, and Bernalillo County Sheriff,
Darren White
has been named in a complaint filed with
the NMAGO.

It is alleged that he is part of a conspiracy to cover up
felony criminal misconduct by the leadership of the APS
and by Darren White (or his subordinates at the BCSO).
link

Kari Brandenburg Named in NMAGO Complaint

A complaint has been filed with the NMAGO, against District Attorney Kari Brandenburg. It is alleged that she has violated the NM Inspection of Public Records Act, and is part of a conspiracy to cover up criminal misconduct by the the leadership of the APS and the Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White (and or his subordinates).

Complaint under the NMIPRA

District Attorney Kari Brandenburg has been asked to surrender the public record of her prosecution of allegations of public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS.

She has refused to surrender that record as required under the law.

She was asked at least twice to surrender the name of the Custodian of Public Records for the Office of District Attorney.

She has ignored that request as well.

I suspect that she and her office are complicit in a conspiracy involving the leadership of the APS, and Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, to cover up an ethics and accountability scandal, including felony criminal misconduct by members of the leadership of the APS and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

Documentation is attached.

What Would Leonard DeLayo Do?

If I asked Leonard DeLayo, the new head of the NM Foundation for Open Government, for his help in compelling the APS to surrender public records (link) of corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS, during the time when he was chief among the leadership of the APS;

... what would he do?


... open government? ... or cover his ass?
... open government? ... or cover his ass?

hmmmm ...



Cover his ass.

APS' Rigo Chavez Subject of NMAGO Complaint

the following complaint has been filed with the office of the Attorney General of the State of New Mexico.

Complaint under the NMIPRA

On Monday, January 7, 2008, a request for public records was sent to Albuquerque Public Schools Custodian of Public Records, Rigo Chavez.

Mr. Chavez was asked for public records surrounding the relationship between the APS and the Modrall law firm.

Mr. Chavez, and the leadership of APS/Modrall, have not responded to the request by either the 3 or 15 day deadline.

I have attached a copy of the request. ...

Navajo Elementary School Victim of "Limited Budget"

According to an article by Zsombor Peter in the Journal (apparently unlinkable),

the reason that Navajo Elementary School, in the valley,
did not get funding to repair their campus,
while Georgia O'Keefe Elementary School, in the heights,
has plenty of funding to repair theirs, is;

"Construction on the school has been piecemeal because there was only a limited budget when the work began four years ago.", APS Master Capital Master Plan Director Kizito Wijenje.
In the same time period,
APS' "limited budget" allowed millions of dollars worth of upgrades on the Uptown Administrative Complex, including a fancy board room that cost taxpayers over a million dollars,

and whose very existence is yet to be justified
by even a single senior administrator or board member.



Do you suppose that reporter Zsombor Peter is frustrated that Tommy Lang and Kent Walz won't allow him to tell the truth about the squandering of the public trust and treasure at APS' Uptown Administrative Complex?

That, despite promises that the leadership of the APS was finally ready to tell the truth about spending at the UAC,

a candid, forthright, and honest accounting of spending at the UAC has still not been surrendered to public knowledge?

State Drops Case, Cover Up Complete

According to the Journal;

A licensure case against Albuquerque Public Schools administrator Elsy Fierro was dismissed Thursday.
Fierro, head of the Rio Grande cluster, faced suspension and/or revocation of her license after she ordered that a Rio Grande High senior's grade be changed last May over the objections of the teacher and principal.
The dismissal was ordered by Dorian Dodson, secretary of the Children, Youth and Families Department. Dodson was appointed to hear the case after Education Secretary Veronica Garcia recused herself.
Dodson, in a prepared statement, urged APS to address broader issues raised by the case "in a way that fairly, fully and openly responds to the public's concerns and restores public confidence."
APS will ignore the urging of course,
because they want to,

and because they can.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

We need a "Do Not Re-elect" List

It will have the name of every state legislator.

Next to their name, will be their response,
or their manifest refusal to respond, to the following question, candidly forthrightly, honestly;

What did you do during the 2008 Legislature,
to provide honest and transparent accountability
to meaningful standards of conduct and competence
for public servants of the State of New Mexico?
Perhaps those who refuse to answer,
and those who's answers reek,
can then be held accountable by voters in November.


The Journal won't publish the list, I've asked them before,
the Trib too.

But I will;
over and over and over again;

I promise.


(
I need the help of some computer savvy volunteer
to make a list easily accessible to legislators and voters.
)

Journal Censors Diogenes

"Look who's blogging" no longer publishes links to D6

A clever and ballsy move by the state's most powerful publisher, Tommy Lang?

... or just plain pathetic?

NM PED Secretary Veronica Garcia Admits Accountability Issues

According to the Journal, link sub req, Mimi Stewart has a revolutionary new plan to fund education in NM more fairly.

But according to the article;

State Education Secretary Veronica García has expressed concern about throwing more money at districts without holding them accountable for how it's spent.
I say, if Veronica Garcia cannot guarantee accountability
for every dollar spent by her department,
any better than she guaranteed accountability for
Beth Everitt and the other senior administrators and board members who changed their crony's kid's grade,

it's time for a new Secretary of Education.

Every Tax Dollar That Has Ever Been Wasted; Ever

was wasted by a public servant who was corrupt, incompetent, or both.

Coincidentally,

public servants can not be held honestly accountable for
either their
conduct or for their competence
as public servants.

Accountability is 100% fatal to both waste,

and to the corrupt and incompetent public servants
who create it.

Do you trust the current city administration?

is the title of a non-scientific poll being conducted at the
Eye on Albuquerque.

Currently, results are demonstrating that a full three quarters of respondents don't trust city government.

Marty Chavez et al, will remind us that the poll is unscientific.

But they will not conduct a scientific poll of their own; because the results would likely be the same.

Whether or not, Marty Chavez is trustworthy;

the fact that so few believe that he is,
is important.

Too important to simply ignore.


Too important for the good ole boys in the media
to simply ignore.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.

How is it that APS Interim Superintendent Linda Sink
can be called a liar (link), without provoking the ire
of the most litigious client/lawfirms in New Mexico;
APS/Modrall?


Is it because the truth is a 100% defense against
allegations of libel and slander?

Journal Editor Denies the Allegation

laid out in a letter the editor;
that his music critic is incompetent. link

Which proves that the editor and the paper have the
wherewithal to deny (deniable) allegations.

Still, no denial yet, of the allegation that he and the Journal
are corrupt, and actively participating in a cover up of the
ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

Thomas Lang, Kent Walz, Phill Casaus
Sue Stephens, Thomas Pearl, and
Michelle Donaldson,
all have the wherewithal
to deny the allegation that they are corrupt.

All they are missing are the balls it takes
to publish or broadcast,

a bald faced lie.

Extreme Makeovers Truck Stolen While in Albuquerque

..nuff said.

Whistleblower Protection and Retaliation

Danny Moon, Gil Lovato, AV Romero, Dave West,
Cynthia West, Tom Savage, Beth
Everitt,

and every supervisor those people had
over the last several years, failed to do the right thing.


link

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

APS' Brad Winter; On the Spot, Whole World Watching

APS Senior Administrator and Albuquerque City Councilor
Brad Winter
is in a bind.

Whether through carelessness, inattention, or
honest to God moral courage;

Brad Winter has promised to deliver a candid, forthright
and honest accounting of the spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd.


And it will be, or it won't be.

And whether it is; candid, forthright, and honest;
or not,

will be immediately obvious to anyone who cares to read his report.

His honor is on the line.

And his membership in the good ole boys club in the leadership of the APS.

And his membership in the privileged class in Albuquerque.

They are going to be really pissed if he tells the truth.

He has a lot to loose. But when asked to tell the truth
about spending on the Uptown Administrative Complex,
he said yes; candid, forthright, ... honest.


No APS administrator has ever done that.


Only one board member has ever come close;

with an aborted plan for an honest and impartial
accountability audit of the administration of the APS.

It is not Paula Maes and APS/Modrall that needs to be beaten.

A reader wondered that District Attorney Kari Brandenburg
is afraid of taking on APS/Modrall
over public corruption and criminal conspiracy allegations.

If APS/Modrall could defend themselves with their record,
their record would not be a secret that needs to be defended by the legal weaselry of a team of Modrall lawyers.

The case is a slam dunk.
She cannot loose it except deliberately.
As has been done with the state's gradegate case.

APS/Modrall can be beaten; but only once they have been
stripped of the cloak of invisibility provided by
the good ole boys who call the shots for the media.

Kari Brandenburg isn't afraid of Modrall,
she's afraid of the backstabbing by the media.


Tommy Lang is the one who needs to be beaten.

He, and Phill Casaus, and Kent Walz, and every other
Albuquerque "news"person keeping the secret
from public knowledge, and from the public support
for whomever finally takes on the APS/Modrall.

APS/Modrall is indomitable, but only in secret.
They can run circles around Judges like Valerie Huling,
and others undoubtedly; but only for so long as the
public cannot be galvanized around their corruption.

If Michelle Donaldson of KRQE
or Sue Stephens of KOAT or Thomas Pearl of KOB
or somebody in the broadcast news media run by
Paula Maes, School Board President,
President and CEO
of the NM Broadcasters Association,
and wife of the President of the Modrall;

finally sics one of their investigative reporters on
the scandal in the leadership of the APS;

The best Modrall is going to be able to do at that point
is to keep most them out of prison.


The APS administrators for instance,
who commanded the fraud of millions of tax dollars
at the APS Charter Vocational High School.

And the APS administrators who covered it all up.

Monica Armenta, APS Executive Director Of Communications, Might.

It is a perfect opportunity for the most highly paid communications specialist in the entire APS,
to actually communicate with the great unwashed.

The Board, meeting out of town, had an agenda.

A. Strategic Planning - Board of Education Goal 3 (Discussion / Action)
Increase efficiency of all communication processes between the Board of Education and all stakeholders.

link

If ever there was a golden opportunity for the golden girl,
Monica Armenta, this is it.

Ms Armenta,

Tell us please, about the leadership's plan
to communicate efficiently with all stakeholders.

In particular, I am anxious to learn whether or not
the new plan includes the words;

"candid, forthright, and honest".

APS Chief Ray Schultz' Double Standard

Chief Ray Schultz seems pretty upset that
a police department candidate forged a note
in order to get into the police academy.

"Police Chief Ray Schultz said John Valdez probably would have been fired had he not resigned."
according to the Journal link sub req.


On one level you can appreciate that dishonesty
is dishonesty. period

On another level, you can appreciate that
there is one hell of a lot of difference between lying
to put food on your table;

and lying to mislead the community about
the real strength of the police force, and
accident statistics and red light cameras.

One man lost his job,
and Ray Schultz and Kari Brandenburg are ready
to ream him a new one.


Chief Schultz on the other hand,

is one of the good ole boys.

District Attorney Kari Brandenburg; "This is a question of public trust ... being abused."

According to an article in the Journal. link sub req


This in explanation of her intention bring the weight of her office to bear in criminally prosecuting some poor schlub, and his wife, who forged a note from his doctor so that he could serve in the APD.

Still nothing from her on the "... question of public trust ... being abused," by the leadership of the APS and Darren White using public resources to harass and intimidate
whistle blowers (and guarantee the suitability of candidates for girlfriend to the Deputy Superintendent of the APS).

She is still buried under requests for cookie recipes, I guess. link

Either that, or

... she herself, is abusing the public trust.

and in a manner which poses a far greater threat to the community than a forged note from a doctor to get a job.

APS Superintendent Linda Sink Forgoes Apology

APS Supt. Linda Sink will not demand an apology.

Ms Sink is accused of lying to APS stakeholders. link

Were I her, and I were called a liar,
I would demand an apology.

Unless of course I was actually lying,
in which case I would keep my mouth shut.

Marty Chavez, "Founding father of Character Counts"
is not demanding an apology for being called
a fair weather friend of Character Counts, and a coward
who lacks the courage to stand up for what he believes in.

Darren White is not demanding an apology for being accused of hiding evidence of criminal misconduct by APS leadership in the criminal misuse of his computers.

Kari Brandenburg is not demanding an apology
for allegations that she is part of a cover up of
criminal misconduct by the leadership of the APS
and Darren White's sheriff's office.

And then there are the moguls of local news;
Thomas Lang,
Kent Walz, Phill Casaus, Sue Stephens,
Thomas Pearl, and Michelle Donaldson.


They have been accused of covering up an ethics
and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS
the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, and the office
of the District Attorney.

The have not demanded an apology either;
and for the very same reason.


It is hard to demand that someone apologize
for telling the truth.

Blow by Blow, Criminal Misconduct, APS, BCSO

The victim of an illegal background check and more
for filing a complaint against APS Administrator,
one Danny Moon, et al,

lays it out for you to read.

Link

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Hardest Part of Standing Up for What You Believe In

comes when
you have to stand up for what you believe in;
when you make some sacrifice in behalf of a principle.

Until then, you are only talking about
standing up for what you believe in.

The hardest part of standing up for what you believe in, alone,

is the wondering why?

Loyalty Above All Else; Except Honor

a diametrically opposite concept to a good ol' boys club.

Should the Legislature Give APS Any Money At All?

The leadership of the APS is in Santa Fe looking for a billion dollars or so, to play with next year.

If you were a legislator, would you give it to them;

knowing that the stewards of that billion dollars or so,

are not honestly accountable to even a single meaningful
standard of conduct or competence;
and

that over the period of the last two years,

they have deliberately and methodically excepted themselves from every single meaningful standard of conduct that applies to public servants and educators;
and

if you knew that the Council of the Great City Schools
wrote that APS administrative evaluations are
subjective and unrelated to promotion and step placement.

And that the leadership of the APS is a good ole boys club;

and they are accountable to no one except each other?


Or would you say,

before you get another dime of taxpayers' money,
there will be a full scale forensic accountability audit
of the administration of public power and resources
by the leadership of the APS?

Why won't state legislators protect the public interests
in the APS?


Is it because the legislature is a good ole boys club too;

and because there is reciprocity* between clubs
and between club members from different clubs?

Darren White's BCSO club, Kari Brandenburg's DA's club;
Tommy Lang's Publishers club, APS leadership,
Character Counts Leadership Council,
the rest of the media,
...


*A mutual or cooperative interchange of favors or privileges,
especially the exchange of rights or privileges between
APS senior administrators, school board members,
state legislators, and newspaper publishers.

On Boiling Frogs Alive

There is an old saw that claims;

If you throw a frog into a pan of boiling water
s/he will react quickly, and jump out of the water
essentially unharmed.

However, if you put a frog in a pan of cold water
and slowly raise the heat to boiling
s/he will boil to death.

If the leadership of the APS, or the City Council,
or the State Legislature, announced one day
that they were simply going to start ignoring stakeholders,
except themselves from accountability, and go hang out
together in apartments in the sky;

stakeholders would react.

On the other hand, if the squandering of the public trust
and treasure were deliberate, methodical and incremental,

stakeholders would do nothing.


And if you can keep stakeholders ignorant of their plight,
with a multi million dollar communications effort,
so much the better.

APS BOE meets in "private"

The school board will meet tomorrow at 7:30 am

... in Santa Fe.

There is nothing on the agenda that appears to
require moving the meeting out of the city.
link

With the exception of discussion of communication
with stakeholders.

Which they apparently need to discuss in "private".


The worst thing that any public servant can do
is anything that they have to do in "private".


This, like every one of the 1,589 allegations that preceded it, would be refuted by the leadership of the APS,
if they could refute it.


The fact that they have to stonewall
every legitimate question that is asked of them,
says something.

The fact that they have to move their "communication" meeting out of town, says something as well.



tap, tap, tap. ... is this microphone turned on?
can anybody hear me? ... tap, tap. tap

Monica Armenta, APS' $105K Spin Doctor Ignores Question

Armenta was asked for the names of the individual administrators and board members who recently secretly lowered the student standard of conduct for the APS.

She refuses to respond.

-She can't deny that the standard has been lowered;the new standard is a published public record.

-She can't deny that there are specific administrators
and board members who are individually responsible.
Someone had to do it, it didn't lower itself.

-She can't deny that by lowering the student standard,
these "leaders" simultaneously lowered their own standard of conduct.

So all she can do is to ignore the question.

She earns almost $10K a month as a public servant,
who's job it is to communicate (the truth)
and all she can do is to stonewall the question.

According to the standard of conduct that students,
administrators and board members used to be accountable to;

... stonewalling is unethical.


It is unethical because it is not honest.

The whole point of Armenta's existence,
as far as the leadership of the APS is concerned,
is to be dishonest.

It is not Armenta's job is not to expose
those who lowered their own standard of conduct
in secret.


Her job is to hide their identities;
in order that they may escape the consequences of
their betrayal of the public trust.


And with friends like these, who needs enemies?

"The Case of the Amazing Grade Change"

"So far, all signs point to The Case of the Amazing Grade Change being wrapped up to everyone's satisfaction— everyone except taxpayers, parents of public-school students and teachers."
So began an editorial in the Journal this morning. (link sub req)

In an uncharacteristically critical piece, someone at the Journal has taken a stand against the continued secrecy surrounding the involvement senior administrators and board members in the grade change.
"That meant a public examination of evidence, including records of the student's academic performance. And that, the parents argued, would further violate the federally guaranteed privacy of the student. Which, APS attorneys argued, would put $60 million in federal funding to the district in jeopardy— an arguably dubious claim that suits the district's agenda of making an embarrassing situation go away.
After hearing those arguments, a state District Court judge ruled against the PED using the student's records, which led the department to ask that the licensure case against Fierro be dropped." How convenient. (emphasis added)


Does this the beginning of the end for the district's lock on the local media?


One can only hope so.