APS School Board; if not cowardice, if not corruption, then what is it, exactly?

A couple of decades ago, the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education passed a unanimous resolution adopting "higher standards" of conduct for students and for their adult role models.

Since, they have changed their collective mind;

• students are still expected to "model and promote" honest accountability to a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct.  
while
• school board members and senior administrators are now expected only to "... maintain the highest standards of conduct and act in a mature and responsible manner at all times."

Peercy has kept the
resolution off the table
for more than a decade;
cowardice, corruption, or
what, exactly?

Though School Board President David Peercy claims accountability to the "highest standards" of conduct, he is not; not by a long shot.

Never mind that he cannot point to any honest to God due processes by which he can be held accountable to any higher standards of conduct; he cannot even point with any specificity to these supposed "highest standards" themselves.  Where are they codified, where are they even written down?

Peercy is demonstrably unaccountable even to the law; the lowest standards of conduct acceptable to civilized human beings.  Honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence are no match for APS' eloquence of lawyers, law firms, litigation and legal weaselry underwritten by their unlimited access to the operational fund; millions of dollars a year.

The Operational Fund is money that should, could and would be spent in classrooms were they not being squandered in courtrooms securing admissions of no guilt in exorbitantly expense legal settlements.

There are those who believe that trying to enforce a decades old school board resolution, is fool's errand.  Perhaps, perhaps not. But that's not the point.

The point is that board members will not reconsider their motion.  They will not put it on the table for open and honest public discussion.  Though their clear "ethical" obligation is to reconsider their resolution; either reaffirm, amend or rescind it; in public and on the record, that is clearly not their intention.

Instead, the school board will pretend it doesn't exist.
David Peercy has ordered them to pretend it doesn't exist.


No debt is too old for an honest man to pay. unk

A question is begged; for how long then, is  the school board's promise "good"? for a month? a year? ten years? Or do this school board's promises expire the moment they are made?

If the reason to not revisit the resolution does not flow from their cowardice; they are afraid to accept the consequences that a re-visitation would provoke; if the reason does not flow from their corruption; they don't want to be held honestly accountable as the senior most role models of the same standards of conduct they establish and enforce upon students; then from where does their resistance flow?

The question isn't rhetorical.

Cowardice, corruption or what, exactly?




photo Mark Bralley

Pat Davis still stonewalling

Would be United States Congressman Pat Davis is on record, link, describing the Albuquerque Public Schools Role Model Policy as  "vague, coded language".

The policy read; (before the board voted unanimously to strike it from their own code of conduct)

In no case shall the standards of conduct for an adult

be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

At the time, I took the time to go to a city council meeting to challenge Davis to point to the vague and coded language and to vindicate his slander.

Instead, Davis sat stone-faced and mum; hiding behind a contrived inability of councilors to respond during a public forum, to legitimate questions about the public interests in city government.

Davis has not responded still.
More than a year later, he still
cannot justify his slander.

Still, he will not point to vagary.

Still he will not point the "coded"
language.

He won't because he can't.

He won't because he cannot summon the courage and the character he will would need to admit that the requirements of adult role models in the APS are neither vague nor coded.  That, but a fraction of the courage and character he would need to actually be a role model of the standards of conduct expected from the nearly 90,000 of this community's sons and daughters in APS schools, by holding himself honestly accountable to those same higher standards.

And still, he thinks he's qualified for congress.
Considering some of those who sit there now,
perhaps he's not too far off.




photo Mark Bralley


cc Pat Davis upon posting; 
he can respond anytime he wants to.

"To fear to face an issue is to believe the worst is true"

If Ayn Rand is right, the worst is true about the leadership of the APS; they are not actually accountable to any "higher standards"* of conduct at all.

*It turns out, if you search for consensus on the meaning of "higher standards" of conduct, you will find none.  The meaning of higher standards depends on who is claiming to have them.

It is my belief that "higher standards" means higher standards than the law; the lowest standards of conduct acceptable among civilized human beings.  In this context, higher standards of conduct means standards of conduct that require candid, forthright and honest answers to legitimate questions about the public interests in the public schools.

The accountability of the leadership of the APS, even to the law, is debatable.

In meetings they hold in secret and of which no recording is made; they spend the operational fund without limit, on litigation and legal weaselry whose purpose is not to serve students or the public interests, but to ensure that corrupt and incompetent senior administrators and school board members can "admit no guilt" in inordinately expensive settlement agreements.

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education is afraid to face the issue of administrative and executive ethics, standards and accountability because they are inadequate and unenforceable.

Their defense against that allegation is simple.  All they have to do is to identify the clear and unequivocal ethics and standards to which they claim accountability and then prove they are accountable by identifying the due process to which they are subject.

For example; the board could point to their own code of ethics, link, which would lead one to believe that they can be held accountable to ethical standards of conduct.  Except that the truth is, by their own free admission, their code of ethical conduct is utterly unenforceable.

Were their code enforceable, the very first ethic in their code;

Make the education and well-being of students the basis for all decision making, 

would prevent them from spending the operational fund, money that could, should and would be spent in classrooms, on cost-is-no-object legal defenses instead.

If the board and senior administrators actually had higher standards of conduct, and if they were actually accountable to those standards by due process; beyond their undue influence and powerful enough to hold them accountable even against their will, they would point to them.

Why wouldn't they?

Instead, they stonewall; the only defense of an indefensible position.

They fear to face the issue because the worst is true;
the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools
is unaccountable to any higher standards of conduct at all,
and they are arguably unaccountable
even to the law.

cc upon posting, with an invitation to respond, 
refute or rebut by means of leaving a comment;
individual board members and the superintendent.

If a Custodian of Public Records will not produce records, and if ...

... a Communications Specialist will not answer legitimate questions about the public interests in the public schools, candidly, forthrightly, honestly and in a timely manner, is it fair to hold her responsible and therefore accountable for her failure to produce public records according to the NM Inspection of Public Records Act and, for her failure to communicate the truth to stake and interest holders?

If the public trust and treasure is about to be squandered on litigation and legal weaselry in an effort to cover up an ethics, standards and accountability crisis in the leadership of the APS, is it fair to blame the records custodian/communications specialist?

If an old cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators who were never held to account, is being covered up still, is it fair to blame the records custodian and communications specialist?

Probably not.

aps image

It would it be more just to
hold accountable, her boss;
Todd Torgerson
Interim Chief of Human Resources
and Legal Services

aps image

It would it be more just still,
to hold accountable, his boss;
Raquel Reedy, Superintendent
of the Albuquerque Public Schools.









Most just, would be to hold accountable the APS Board of Education, who meet in secret, in meetings of which no recording is made, to decide how many hundreds and hundreds of thousand dollars they will spend on the litigation and legal weaselry that they'll need to continue their cover up their lack of ethics, standards and accountability and their state and federal felony criminal misconduct.

If only the Journal weren't in cahoots.

APS School Board must reconsider 24 year old resolution

no debt is to old for an honest man to pay. unk

Is a sitting school board bound by a previous board's resolution? 
If not, then for how long is their word good? 
Is it even good on the night they make their resolution;
is it any good at all? 

If we really want students to grow into adults who embrace character and courage and honor, someone is going to have to show them what those look like.

• 24 years and 19 days ago, the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education promised to show students what character and courage and honor look like.  They adopted high standards of conduct for students and then promised them adult role models worthy of emulation.
• And then, they reneged on their promise.
• And now, they refuse to acknowledge that they reneging on their promise.

There are double standards of conduct in the APS.

According to the board’s Student Handbook;

Students are expected, to model and promote honest accountability to a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct.

Board members and senior administrators, by means of their cost-is-no-object litigation and legal weaselry, are arguably unaccountable even to the law; the lowest standards of conduct acceptable to civilized human beings.

The double standards and egregious hypocrisy can be resolved one of two ways;

1. The board can lower student standards of conduct to the point where board members are finally are willing to be held actually accountable as role models of accountability to the same standards of conduct that they establish and enforce upon students. Or,

2. The board can raise their own standards of conduct to the level of the standards they establish and enforce upon students. The board can restore the role modeling clause to their own standards of conduct; the one that used to read;

in no case shall the standards of conduct for an adult be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

What the board can not do, is to continue to ignore the petition.

Continuing to stonewall the petition is dishonest.

Stonewalling is among the most cowardly forms of dishonesty. It is unworthy of the senior-most role models for nearly 80,000 of this community’s sons and daughters in public schools.

The board's own Dr. No;
no public discussion of ethics
standards, accountability and role
modeling.  Not now, not ever.

The board must over come the more than decade long obstruction of School Board President David Peercy.  He has kept open and honest public discussion of ethics, standards and accountability off the table of his Policy Committee for more than a decade.  He has refused to discuss, in public and on the record, whether the role modeling clause should be restored to the board's own standards of conduct.

Four other board members must then, summon the character and courage to place the 1994 Character Counts! Resolution on the table in an open public meeting; there to reaffirm, amend or rescind it, in public and on the record.

It is time; it is well past time for the board to declare candidly, forthrightly and honestly, what it is that the board intends to do about the double standards of conduct in the Albuquerque Public Schools and their abject failure as role models of student standards of conduct.



photo Mark Bralley

APS School Board Code of Ethics is utterly unenforceable

By their own frank admission:
the APS School Board’s own code of ethics,
is utterly unenforceable.

The truth is; they're telling the truth.

The stink of it is; they won't tell you why.

Why is their Code of Ethics utterly unenforceable?
Why don't they have to explain why it isn't enforceable?

The simple proof; ask for any public record revealing due process of any kind, by which they can be held honestly accountable to their Code of Ethics.

This is no revelation to School Board members. 
They know or remaine willfully ignorant.

There will be no open and
honest public discussion of
ethics, standards and account-
ability while Peercy remains
in charge.

School Board President David Peercy has kept open and honest public discussion off the table at the Policy Committee he chairs for more than a decade.

He tabled the motion to reestablish the role modeling clause to the board's standards of conduct.  Before it was removed unanimously, it read;

in no case shall the standards of conduct for an adult be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

Peercy won't talk about ethics, standards and accountability because he can't really prove there are any; any standards or ethics that are enforceable by any due processes over which they and their lawyers cannot exert undue influence and, that are powerful enough to hold he and them accountable, even against their will.

Peercy and the board refuse to explain, in words at least most students can understand,

• why are students are expected to model and promote honest accountability to a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct, and 
• their senior most executive and administrative role models are not?

They are demonstrably unaccountable even to the law;
the lowest standards of conduct acceptable to civilized human beings.

The reason they are not, is because public uproar over the abdication of the senior most role models in the entire APS, has yet to reach their ears.

There is a public forum.
You have to get there before 5pm; before most people get off work, or they won't let you sign up.

photo Mark Bralley

Journal exposes Graduation Rate Gate in an editorial.

In an editorial this morning, the editors exposed the scam that APS and other school districts have been using to appear to be doing a better job than they are, of educating children in public schools.

Their opinion isn't available, strangely, in any format that allows a link to be published.

At any rate, APS has been touting rising graduation rates as proof that they are doing a better job.  The problem is, there are ways to raise graduation rates without having to do a better job of teaching.  APS raised their graduation rates on at least two occasions by simply giving students 5 years instead of 4 to graduate on time and, they dropped from the cohort, any 9th grader who had already failed the 9th grade.

The reason APS and others talk about graduation rates is because they have to talk about something, and every other measure of the efficacy of public education points toward failure.  What does it say that a significant number of diplomas are given to seniors who can't read? or do math?

One solution is a graduation test, or battery of tests, whatever is fair and accurate.  Something akin to SAT or ACT exams.

If one school district's seniors pass the test at a rate of 80% and another district's seniors pass at only 60%, the one is doing demonstrably better than the other; numbers that mean something.

It's a pity that the Journal exposed the scam in an editorial and not in an investigation and report on other real measures of the education that is or is not taking place.

The leadership of the APS has a record of hiding the truth.

They have a record of covering up state and federal felony criminal misconduct involving their senior leadership and the leadership of their publicly funded private police force.

The evidence that proves that allegation comes in the form of public records. The records are subject to the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act.

The records are;

1. The records of any investigation into the conduct of any member of the leadership of the APS and that exposed probable cause to believe that there was either state or federal felony misconduct. In particular, any investigation into the corruption and incompetence reported in the Journal, Feb 1, 2007; APS Top Cop Finds Himself on Hot Seat. In particular, any investigation undertaken by the Albuquerque Public Schools police force, any contract private investigator such as but not limited to Robert Caswell Investigations, or any investigator working for their lawyers, under however many layers they are buried.
2. Any record of APS turning over the evidence, information and testimony from those investigations to any recognized agency of law enforcement such as but not limited to, the Bernalillo County District Attorney, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State Police, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In response to the request, APS will either;

1. Produce public records in accordance with the law, of cover ups of state and federal felony misconduct; or
2. They will fight tooth and nail for every record. They will litigate forever.

At their disposal; unlimited access to the operational fund; money that could be, should be and would be spent in classrooms were it not being spent instead in courtrooms, and on whatever litigation and legal weaselry is necessary to keep the truth secret from stake and interest holders until the money runs out. 

There is only one reason to hide the truth and that is
to avoid the consequences of the truth being known.

If the record of the leadership of the APS was one of seeing that the criminals in their midst were held accountable for their crimes, they wouldn’t be hiding it; they wouldn’t need to.