Monday, November 24, 2014

APS recruiting students, how odd.

APS is running ads on KKOB TV.
They are recruiting students.

Millions dollars a year on "spin" 
and on boundless legal weaselry.

The voice over sounds
a lot like APS Executive
Director of Communications
Monica Armenta.

Her final point;
an overwhelming majority of students choose APS
A more candid, forthright and honest approximation is that an overwhelming majority of APS students don't make a conscious choice whether to attend APS or a charter.  Mostly they go to school all their friends and have been since kindergarten.

All of which begs at least a few questions;
  • All of this cost some money.  Wherever that money came from, taxpayers or donors, it could have been spent instead, directly on students.  Is running ads on KKOB the best use of scarce resources?  Wouldn't success sell as many or more tickets?
  • APS student standards of conduct "preclude all acts, including half-truths, out-of-context statements, and even silence, that are intended to create beliefs or leave impressions that are untrue or misleading." 

    If it is wrong for students to mislead stakeholders, is it wrong for one of their senior-most role models as well?  Are the "leadership" of the APS the senior-most role models of student standards of conduct or are they not?
  • Whose call is it? Are the ethics, standards and accountability of school board members and superintendents the prerogative of the people or of their politicians and public servants?
There is a school board election coming up, followed rather immediately by the hiring of a new superintendent.

The issues in that election
and in that hiring are;

Ethics, Standards, and
actual honest Accountability
to those ethics and to those
standards for everybody;

from kindergartener
to school board president.


All the rest will shake itself out in due time and as a matter of course.




photos Mark Bralley

2 comments:

Michelle Meaders said...

Since most Charter schools in ABQ ARE APS schools, I thought she meant APS vs. private schools. Maybe they are losing too many students to private schools and state-chartered schools, so they aren't getting the per-capita fees. Not many families can afford private schools in ABQ.

They are having a school choice fair that includes regular, magnet, and charter schools. Isn't it good that they realize that special schools are better for some kids, and there is a variety of free ones available? It looks like a good opportunity for parents to see many choices side by side. What's wrong with that?

ched macquigg said...

Actually, charter schools are not APS schools except technically.

There is a great deal of resentment in the leadership of the APS over the power and resources being "drained" from APS.

Carry the process to its likely conclusion and you have 90% of students in charters and only 10% left in APS schools, and the leadership of the APS still packing 6400 Uptown to the gunwales.


Nothing wrong with offering choices and letting people know about them. There are different ways of doing that which are more or less cost effective and we are compelled I think, to utilize the most cost effective.

Perhaps I am too cynical. but I see these fairs as opportunities for certain people to shine; to appear important beyond their actual contribution to the education of nearly 90,000 of this community's sons and daughters.


I have to add, I think it is a shame that any student has to leave their neighborhood school to find what they need from the APS. Why can't a child who doesn't have 360 rides across town and back, find STEM training in the school across the street?

You always ask the best questions Michelle, I am grateful for your time and attention.