Thursday, July 30, 2009

The Journal on role modeling.

In the Journal this morning, link; a report that firefighters will
be held accountable to a higher standard of conduct than the law.

It is proposed that firefighters be fired from their jobs for being a "black eye" for the Albuquerque Fire Department; for not holding themselves accountable to a "higher standard of conduct" than the law, even off duty.

The movers and shakers at the Journal find this story newsworthy; front page top of the fold, newsworthy. They believe, apparently, that their readers should know about issues surrounding role modeling by fire fighters.

What is so special about firefighters, that fire fighter role modeling is newsworthy?

If an argument can be built that certain people have responsibilities as role models by virtue of expectations and visibility, to whom does that argument apply more aptly, than to educators?

By what logic can a firefighter be fired from his job for not being a good role model, while at the same time a public school superintendent can keep his job while refusing to step up as a role model at all?

By what logic is the Journal excused for failing to report on the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS?

Students are accountable to a nationally recognized,
accepted, and respected code of ethical conduct,
while not a single APS senior administrator or board
member, not one in the entire "leadership" of the APS,
is willing to step up to honest accountability as a role
model of those standards.
How is it newsworthy when the least powerful public servants
are failing as role models, but not newsworthy when the most
powerful public servants are failing as role models in the worst possible ways?


How is the ethics and accountability scandal in the most senior leadership of the APS not front page, top of the fold, newsworthy?





Marty Esquivel is the senior most executive role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct.

Winston Brooks is the senior most administrative role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct.

Neither can summon the character and the courage to tell the truth about administrative and executive role modeling of the student standards of conduct.

Their pictures are not in the paper this morning.
But six (relatively powerless) fire fighters' pictures are,
for failing to step up as role models.

Why are their pictures in the paper while Esquivel's and Brooks' are not; except that there really is a privileged class in Albuquerque, and they really do cover each others asses?

Seriously, I defy anyone to offer any other explanation.

I defy anyone to point to a good and ethical reason that the Journal is not investigating and reporting upon compelling evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS, even in light of an upcoming $650M Bond Issue election.




photos Mark Bralley

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In Orlando, FL firefighters were subject to its form of Character Counts. Under this, Firefighters were threatened to be fired for: 1) posing in the FF charity shirtless calendar; 2)DWIs 3) peacefully protesting fire fighter cuts by city council; 5) displaying female swimsuit calendars in their sleeping areas.
This is a tried & true tool to pick out the "troublemakers" and "complainers" and thus put the rest in line.