Dialogue based on openness - NOT!

The Journal has posted another column by APS Supt Winston Brooks. He (they) entitled his propaganda; "Dialogue must be based on openness". The Journal, at this writing, provides no link to the piece.

Brooks begins by labeling "transparency" as a buzz word, which an online dictionary defines as;

a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture, etc.

To others, transparency is more than a buzz word. Some regard it as fundamental; a cornerstone of government of the people, by the people and for the people.

And then, Brooks starts lying.

Is "lying" too strong of a word?
The same online dictionary offers;

"a false statement made with
deliberate intent to deceive".

The APS Student Standards of
Conduct, if Brooks and the others
could summon the character and
the courage to hold themselves honestly accountable to
them, go one step further. According to student standards
of conduct, making even a true statement, with the
intention to deceive, is lying.

Students are taught, "a half truth is a whole lie".

So let's take a look at Brooks' half truths.

He points out, truthfully, that district goals include the obligation "to be above board with parents, employees, student and the community." He writes, "I set out to change the perception and build confidence in APS by being open and honest with stakeholders." Yet when asked to point to a time, a day and a place where he (or Monica Armenta, Rigo Chavez, or any other subordinate) will sit still and respond to legitimate questions candidly, forthrightly and honestly, he will not respond, at all. He steadfastly refuses to present himself in any public forum where questions and follow up questions are "allowed".

Is he being open and honest about his abdication from senior-most role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct; the Pillars of Character Counts!?

Is he being open and honest about the Caswell Report of public corruption and felony criminal misconduct in the APS Police Department?

Is he being open and honest about his opposition to an independent administrative accountability audit?

Is he being open and honest about the hundreds of legitimate whistle blower complaints that are being denied due process of their complaints?

And then he writes the big lie;

"I am proud to report we're meeting (transparency) goals and fulfilling our promise to keep our constituents informed."

Did he keep us informed when the fourth of four audits revealed another APS division "wide open to theft" due to the lack of standards, accountability and record keeping, link? Where is that information on the APS website? Go there, link; see if you can find any critical audit findings published anywhere on the site.

Brooks goes on to tout the findings of a national nonprofit organization, regarding transparency in the APS, but doesn't mention that they don't delve deeply enough to find ongoing cover ups like one in the APS Police Department.

The final blow comes when Brooks points to his

"William Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award for speaking openly and frankly about the school district".

Where and when has he spoken openly and frankly about the Caswell Report, administrative role modeling of the Student Standards of Conduct, administrative accountability audits, or the corruption in the handling of whistle blower complaints?

The Dixon Award is the result of Marty Esquivel and Kent Walz bamboozling the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. It turns out that KRQE's new director Iain Munro sits on the FOG board as well.

The establishment media is so deep in the cover up, they won't dare assign a reporter to investigate and report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS. They cannot report credibly on the scandal without first reporting credibly on their failure heretofore, to report credibly on the scandal.

According to the standards of conduct that apply to APS students but not to administrators or board members, students forfeit their good character when they deliberately mislead another. It is the deliberate nature, it is the intention to deceive, that makes an untruth, a lie.

Winston Brooks, Kent Walz and the Journal, Sue Stephens and KOAT, Julie Szulczewski and KOB, and Iain Munro and KRQE, are deceiving APS parents, employees, students, and the community with half truths and whole lies. They are so secure in their immunity from the consequences of deception, that they engage in it without reservation. They have covered up the scandal through one election after another, depriving voters of the information they need to vote knowingly on bond issues, mill levies and school board seats.

They have betrayed our trust. They will continue to betray
our trust for as long as they can get away with it.




photo Mark Bralley