Standards and accountability in the APS.

Standards and accountability share a symbiotic relationship;
one without the other, amounts to nothing.

The highest standard that can be imagined, is no different
from the lowest, if neither is enforced.

Even honest accountability is of no use, if it is to standards
that are inadequate to the need.

APS has standards and accountability.

In fact, they have on the books, one of the highest standards of
conduct that is possible in a public school setting;
the Pillars of Character Counts!.

But, there is no honest accountability to those standards.

There is nowhere in the entire APS where a stakeholder
can file a complaint that ethical standards of conduct
have been violated, without that complaint being dismissed
as a "nuisance".

There is nowhere in the entire APS where a complaint
made against an administrator, will not be heard by a
colleague of that administrator.

I don't believe for one minute, that personal and professional
relationships between administrators don't play in
the adjudication of complaints against each other, and
neither should you.

But, just for the sake of argument, let's assume that every APS
administrator that adjudicates a complaint against a fellow
administrator, does so impartially.

The appearance of a conflict of interest is still
omnipresent. There is no getting around it. And it casts a
shadow of doubt on the entire process.

That doubt, and its negative effects, is the basis for writing
policies that prohibit creating even the "appearance" of
a conflict of interest.

There is no need for the process to stay "in house".

The appearance of a conflict of interest is entirely eliminated
be simply outsourcing the adjudication. Instead of spending
money on "in house" resolution, that same money could be used
to enable independent resolution that doesn't create an
appearance of a conflict of interest.

APS is big on "in house" resolution. Even allegations of
felony criminal misconduct are investigated by colleagues
of the accused.

With an absolutely predictable result.

More than two years ago, there was a scandal in the APS
Police Department. The leadership of the APS investigated
itself, found evidence of felony criminal misconduct,
waited until the statutes of limitation expired, and still to this
day, has not surrendered evidence to any real branch of
law enforcement. They have yet to even release an
ethically redacted version of the truth to stakeholders.

The APS cannot help but to improve when there is honest
accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and
competence; a situation which is being opposed as vigorously
as is possible, by the leadership of the APS, and,
for no good and ethical reason.

Without explanation, defense, denial, or even an
acknowledgment that, that is what they are doing.