The most important task they will ever undertake;

and never once have they done it right.

The school board has never hired a superintendent
who had the will and the courage to disband the
good old boys club, that is the leadership of the APS.

If they had, the leadership of the APS would not
now be "a good old boys club";
where what you know means less than who you know,
and where incompetence and corruption are tolerated and enabled.

Never once have they hired a superintendent
with the character and the courage to audit
honestly, the administration of the public interests
in the public schools.

Rules are for fools

Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Policy C.02

The Board will annually evaluate the Superintendent in compliance with New Mexico Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Policy, State Statutes and the State Board of Education's Educational Standards.

1. And they will not.

Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Policy G.10

"The Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee will maintain a system of evaluation for all personnel in compliance with the laws of New Mexico and the standards and procedures adopted by the State Board of Education."

2. And Beth Everitt has not.


The validity of those statements will be proven irrefutably by an honest accountability audit of the leadership of the APS.

That is why neither the administration,
nor the board intends to conduct an audit.


If they get away with it, it because when
Marty Esquivel stood up for an audit,
nobody stood up with him.



Everyone who waits for the perfect circumstance
to finally make a stand; will find only a perfect excuse
for never making a stand at all.



Never, ever loose sight of the fact that the media refuses to investigate and report upon these allegations. Their refusal is not accidental.

The refusal of the media to report the truth about the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS is deliberate; with malice and forethought.

The March of the Lemon

Photo by Craig Fritz, Tribune

The "march of the lemons" is a phrase often heard in the APS. It usually refers to bad teachers who are allowed to simply move to another school rather than be held accountable for some incompetence or misconduct.

According to the Trib, (link) Beth Everitt's APS is;

• a mediocre school district,
• that cannot rid itself of bad teachers,
  
• where students and staff do not feel safe, (*)
  
• with an administration that does not listen to stakeholders, and
  
• with a superintendent and administration that lacks "ethics".
  

The administration of the APS

• lacks any system of honest accountability for conduct or competence,
• is without the will to hold anyone personally accountable, and
• is without the will to conduct an immediate full scale forensic audit.

The school system that hires Beth Everitt will not be aware of the incompetence and misconduct that has come to light this year. They will not be aware of;

• the scandal in the APS police department,
• the scandal in the financial department,
• gradegate,
• the principal shuffle, or
• the squandering of the public trust and treasure at the Uptown Administrative Complex.

They won't know because Paula Maes and the school board have not done an annual evaluation on Everitt; in blatant violation of;

• school board policy,
• State Board of Education regulations, and
• State Law.

Because Paula Maes' et al, cannot be held accountable even to the law, Beth Everitt can misrepresent herself to some other school district, as someone she is not.

At what legal meeting of the board, was it decided that Beth Everitt will be allowed to march,

• without the required evaluation, and
  
• without an honest full scale forensic audit of her administration of the public interests and resources in the APS?

None of this has been, or will be reported upon;
a disservice to the process, and to stakeholders,
of epic proportion.

The public interest has been betrayed by whomever at the Journal, Trib, KKOB, KOB, KOAT, and KRQE has decided that each of those "news" outlets will not investigate or report upon the march of this particular lemon.



*APS has routinely reported to the community that students feel safe at school. That claim would seem to be directly refuted by an honest and impartial scientific poll. The Council of the Great City Schools, in a recent audit, reported that the leadership of the APS has a culture of under reporting crime statistics to the community; in an effort to deliberately deceive stakeholders about safety at school.

The new superintendent will not change the system.

The system will change the new superintendent.

If the leadership of the APS has neither the inclination nor the will to perform an honest audit of the administration before handing it over to the new superintendent;

s/he will be expected to fix a broken school district;
using the same corrupt and incompetent people who broke it.

The new superintendent cannot fix the district except by ending the culture that tolerates and enables corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS.

The district will not be fixed without first removing incompetent and corrupt administrators and board members.


Who do you think will prevail in that contest of wills?

The new superintendent, (backed only by a board that lacks even the courage to audit a scandal ridden and totally unaccountable administration);

or the entrenched bureaucrats (incompetent and corrupt; with nearly unlimited power and resources, and nothing to lose but their jobs)?

Every rule, regulation, policy, and directive,

that determines the course of the APS,
is the prerogative of the leadership of the APS.

Their were at the wheel when the bus left the road.

They have been doing things their way for a hundred years, and all they have to show for it is a school system that is mediocre on a good day.


The system is fundamentally flawed.

One of the most fundamental flaws is that it allows board members and administrators to keep secrets about public interests and resources. Secrecy allows the worst in human nature to flourish. A void in accountability is filled by incompetence and corruption. Soon, there is so much corruption and incompetence that a blanket of secrecy must cover every aspect of administration.

It is secretive for a reason.
There is no good reason to keep secrets.


Beth Everitt's administration, and the current board, refuse to answer legitimate questions about the public interests in the public schools.

Nobody is talking about complete transparency as a fundamental requirement of the next superintendency.


Any change which continues in secrecy,
is no change at all.

APS Board to ignore board policy

According to APS School Board Policy C.02

The Board will annually evaluate the Superintendent in compliance with New Mexico State Statutes and the State Board of Education's Educational Standards.

Apparently, the board intends to ignore it's own policy, NM State Statutes and the State Board of Education's Educational Standards; without explanation, without defense, and without even acknowledging their intentions.

At one point board members Paula Maes and Robert Lucero, stated that they were ready to offer her a contract extension before their annual evaluation was ever begun.

It would appear that a deal has been cut with Superintendent Everitt. She agreed to resign, and the board agreed not to document the many failures of her administration.

Unfortunately for stakeholders, the agreement appears to cover not only their required annual evaluation of the superintendent; but any form of impartial accountability audit of her administration.

APS will pass it's lemon of a superintendent with a clean record;

and all of the corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS will remain unexposed and unmitigated.

Cash strapped APS

has found a third of a million dollars to tear down the Stronghurst Complex. It is vacant building. There is no urgent need to tear it down. It is debatable whether or not that kind of money should be spent on something that has a more direct benefit for students.

APS' John Dufay has reported that the district's emergency reserves are gone, and that the district would have to go to the legislature for more money, if something big happens. (link)

It seems that the leadership of the APS is in a bit of a hurry to sell the land that the Stronghurst Complex sits on. When the truth about the spending at the APS UAC, became public, APS' spin was that it really wasn't going to cost taxpayers anything because the proceeds of the Stronghurst sale would cover the unjustified costs of renovation.

In the first place, selling public property to cover public debt still costs taxpayers, because it is their building and land which is being sold.

More importantly, the method of funding the renovation, does not justify the renovation. The leadership of the APS has never justified the money that they have spent on the Uptown Administrative Complex.

They will not explain, defend, or even acknowledge the amount of the public trust and treasure that has been squandered at 6400 Uptown Blvd.

There is a related story in this morning's Journal.
(link sub req)

"The law is clear on it's face."

This is District Court Judge Nan Nash. This morning she ruled that the meaning of the law regarding Dr. Elsy Fierro's right to a public hearing, is clear on it's face.

It doesn't lend it self to interpretation;
it doesn't need interpretation.



Which makes you wonder why these two guys are here.









They came to interpret the law to mean something diametrically opposite to its actual meaning; meaning that is clear on its face.

The part that really burns, is that they are public servants; they work for the NM Attorney General's Office. You pay their salaries so that they can litigate against your interests.


APS/Modrall was there, in the person of Art Melendrez.

He said the district was on the horns of a dilemma; they really, really want an open hearing, but the darned ole law just won't allow it.






Melendrez also informed the court that Miguel Acosta had threatened to sue anyone he could, if his son's records are not kept secret.
A problem there; there is little, if any, of those records which have not been publicly discussed by the student and his mother on several TV and radio shows. There is really nothing secret about them.

More likely is that, Miguel Acosta, and Teresa Cordova do not want their secrets to become public. They can prevent a hearing by insisting on secrecy for their son, even though it no longer exists.



Fierro's Attorney, Gail Stewart, laid the case out well. The law was clearly on their side.







Dr. Elsy Fierro declined interviews with the press. She said that she would give them a statement after the matter was closed.

She may never get that opportunity.

The leadership of the APS/Modrall does not want to see the matter closed; nor does the NM Educator Ethics Bureau, nor does the NM Public Education Department. Not if "the matter being closed" means a hearing open to the public.

The leadership of the APS needs to cover up for board members and the very senior administrators not yet implicated in the gradegate scandal, and the NM EED and the NM PED need to cover up their sham "investigation" and scapegoating of Ms. Fierro.

They will instead drop the charges against Fierro, claiming that they must, to protect the young Acosta's right to privacy.

Her reputation will not be cleared;
and theirs will not be sullied.

One of the worst things a public servant can do

is anything they do in secret.

She's so special.

This is Beth Everitt. She is special. She is the senior administrator in the administration of a billion tax dollars a year.

She is a public servant. She has a responsibility to the public. She has a responsibility to tell the truth in response to legitimate questions.

Stonewalling is not an acceptable term of her public service.

The terms of her public service are the prerogative of the public; and the public has not given her permission to stonewall.

• Will you furnish an honest accounting of the spending at the Uptown Administrative Complex?
• Will you surrender the truth about the principal shuffle?
• Will you surrender the truth about the scandal in the APS police department?
• Will you surrender the truth about the scandal in APS finances?
• Will you surrender the truth about the gradegate scandal?
• Did you trade your silent resignation for a promise that your would not be evaluated by the board this year; as was required by board policy?
• Will you surrender your administration to an immediate, full scale forensic audit of the conduct of those under your supervision and within your responsibility?
• Will you surrender the truth about the APS/Modrall relationship and the nature of the million dollar a year litigation done on the behalf of the leadership of the APS and Board President Paula Maes?

These are all legitimate questions.

Our expectation that Superintendent Everitt respond to them candidly, forthrightly, and honestly, is legitimate.

She was paid a quarter of a million dollars a year to protect public power and resources from waste. And because waste is the sum incompetence and corruption; her job was to establish a meaningful standard of conduct, and then enforce that standard consistently.

She did neither.

Her job was to eliminate corruption and incompetence through honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct.

She did not.

Beth Everitt cannot be made to explain, defend, or even acknowledge what appears to be an egregious betrayal of the public interest.

Because she's so special,

special at least to Phill and Kent. (link)


(photo by Mark G. Bralley)

Terri Cole wants special consideration

According to the Journal; ((link) sub req)

"Three weeks after Albuquerque Public Schools cut off public comment on its search for a new superintendent, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce wants a say as well."

Her homework assignment is three weeks past due; and the board turned her down. She and the Chamber of Commerce would like a superintendent who among other things would have
"a willingness to be held accountable..."

Given the opportunity to create honest accountability in the leadership of the APS by supporting annual accountability audits; Cole has steadfastly refused to stand on the record, and behind an audit.

In complete disregard for the interests of the communities sons and daughters; she and the Chamber have abandoned their support of Character Counts, in deference to the leadership of the APS, who did the same.

If her interests included the welfare of children;
she would stand up for audit based on
a meaningful standard of conduct for APS leadership;
like the Pillars of Character Counts.

the face of corruption and incompetence?

This is Gil Lovato. He used
to be, APS Chief of Police.

It was alleged that he did
some inappropriate things.

The public still doesn't know the whole truth about the betrayal of the public interest. All the public knows is that he was placed on administrative leave for six months rather than have the whole truth come out in a discharge hearing. He and his lawyer, Sam Bregman, said, when the truth comes out, there won't be an administrator left standing.

So tax payers paid him a half a year's salary after he was removed from duty, rather than have him spill the beans on the record.

This is APS' second in command Tom Savage. His girlfriend had an illegal criminal background check done on her; apparently by the APS Police Department, in apparent violation of pretty serious laws. He said he didn't ask for it.

One of the first things he did when the shit hit the fan in January was to order all APS employees to keep their mouths shut.

Beth Everitt blamed his lack of competence in overseeing the APS Police Force, for the problems there.



This Sheriff Darren White. The computers and/or information systems on which the illegal criminal background checks were made, were entrusted to him.

He steadfastly refuses to surrender any public documents that would indicate whether or not he knew personally of the criminal misconduct.

He would like to be elected to congress.




This is District Attorney
Kari Brandenburg.

Almost a year ago, she was
asked to determine whether
or not there had been criminal
misconduct in Lovato's police
department.

She says that she is too busy to look through the evidence that has been given to her by the leadership of the APS to determine whether or not the leadership of the APS and the BCSO broke the law and would be prosecuted.

She is not too busy however to invite her radio talk show listeners to call her at the office to clear up any problems with recipes.

She will not answer when asked; did the leadership of the APS surrender the results of the independent investigation of the public corruption and conspiracy in the leadership of the APS police.

This isn't the only truth being hidden from stakeholders.

This is County Commissioner Teresa Cordova not answering reporters' questions about grade gate.

Gradegate stirred up a lot of community outrage because the smell of it was that, a powerful politica had gotten special treatment from the leadership of the APS.




The scandal stirred up such an uproar, that Beth Everitt asked State Secretary of Education, Veronica Garcia to investigate APS' handling of the affair.

Garcia agreed, despite the fact that she had already been on television proclaiming Everitt's innocence.

She conducted the investigation anyway, and laid the blame on Elsy Fierro.

The "investigation" team included the head of the New Mexico Educator Ethics Bureau, Paul Calderon. Between them all, they managed to investigate the whole scandal without taking a statement on the record, from either the County Commissioner, or the Superintendent.

Everitt appears to be teflon coated. The NM PED won't do an honest investigation; the NM Educator Ethics Bureau will not to an honest investigation; and apparently, she can prevent an accountability audit of her administration as well.

It is almost as if she traded a quiet resignation for the promise of no investigation of her conduct and competence as a public servant.

This School Board President Paula "let's get in a teacher's face" Maes.

She is the reason that the leadership of the APS is not honestly accountable to any meaningful standard of conduct.
(photo by Mark G. Bralley)
Despite the fact that she is the President of the Character Counts Leadership Council; the board has removed the Pillars of Character Counts as their own standard of conduct.

Her husband is the President of the Modrall law firm.

APS spends millions of dollars at Modrall, for among other things, litigating exception to the law for senior administrators and board members.

Maes/Modrall makes so much money off taxpayers that they will not surrender public records that reveal the exact amount.

She is on the record saying, there will not be an audit of the administration of the APS that identifies the incompetence or corruption of individual APS administrators; "... like for example Tom Savage."

She will also vigorously oppose any honest audit of the APS/Modrall relationship, because it will reveal that public power and resources have been used against the public interest.

This is Phill Casaus, editor of the Trib. He is on the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, and the Trib won't investigate and report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the APS. I cannot find a picture of Kent Walz. If I could, I would show you the face of a man who sits on the Executive Committee of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, and who also will not investigate or report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

The Edifice of Corruption and Incompetence.

This is the house that corruption/incompetence built.
It is as far from a classroom in the APS
as one can get.

It was a controversial purchase. Many objected to buying such an expensive and exclusive property.

The Leadership of the APS made a lot of promises to the community, about how they were going to make the purchase make money for stakeholders.



The face of corruption and incompetence


When the community placed their trust and their
treasure in her hands; she and the others in
the leadership of the APS used them both instead,
to fix up their Administrative Complex.

Most recently they spent a million dollars to remodel
a board room that they didn't need.

Everitt steadfastly refuses to surrender a full and honest accounting of the trust and treasure which have been squandered at 6400 Uptown Blvd.

Her friends in the media;
steadfastly refuse to ask for one.


(Everitt photo by Mark G. Bralley)

the new APS Chief of Police has some 'splainin to do

It is his responsibility to make sure that the recording equipment on dispatch phone lines is in working order; and turned on.

The failure of the APS PD equipment and/or personnel,
to record the phone call about evidence of pedophilia,
requires an explanation.

What happened?
Why did it happen?
Can it happen again?


Stakeholders have a right to answers;
... candid, forthright, and honest answers.

There is a board meeting Wednesday. At that meeting,
there is the opportunity for the leadership of the APS
to tell the truth.



Someone (I forget who,) was recently wondering
why Monica Armenta makes a hundred grand, and
the new Chief of Police makes only makes seventy.

It is because she is better at not answering questions,
than he is.

It is because the leadership of the APS cares less about the leadership of their publicly funded, private police force, than is does about being able to spin the truth about the leadership of that police force.




We'll see on Wednesday,
who answers to the board, and to the public,

... and we will see who doesn't answer at all.

the REST of the story

According to the Journal ( (link) sub req)

An Albuquerque police dispatcher, criticized for his advice to the principal of Atrisco Elementary, won the appeal of his firing.
He then promptly resigned.

APS cannot produce the recording of calls made to the APS Police Dispatch phones.

The equipment that records these calls, is fairly sophisticated. It records a time and date stamp designed to make it difficult to cut and splice recordings. The recordings are of substantial value as evidence; credible and unequivocal.

The recording (would have been) a public record of some substantial value to the lawyers and families that are suing the district over the alleged pedophile's alleged battery on their children.

It would also of been of use in firing a dispatcher.

But you can't very well use the recording in one hearing; and then pretend that it doesn't exist in another.

So it just disappears entirely in favor of the interests of the larger litigation and liability.

The evidence disappears;
even if they have to let a little fish go.


On the way out of the hearing;
he told them to take their job, and shove it.

APD stonewalls on morale

Please read this post (link) on a blog called Eye on Albuquerque. In particular, read the comments.

A bunch of people who claim to know, claim that there is incompetence and corruption in the leadership of the Albuquerque Police Department. They claim that as a result, morale in the department is very low.

If all of this is true; the safety of the community as being affected. Community members have a right to know the truth.

If it is not true; why won't the leadership of the APD say so?

The new NM FOG Executive Director has a conflict of interest.

The NMFOG has been asked repeatedly, for their assistance in gaining the surrender of public records by the leadership of the APS.

I have have repeatedly alleged that those public records are evidence of public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS.

Leonard DeLayo was the President of the APS school board during times relevant.


What do you suppose his response will be when asked if he will help in the fight to get APS/Modrall to surrender public records including those that implicate him personally?

Modrall lawyer sits on NMFOG Board

According to the NMFOG website;
Patrick J Rogers of the Modrall
sits on their Executive Committee.

The NMFOG has consistently ignored my requests
for their assistance;

in my efforts to hold accountable, the axis of
the APS administration, the board, and Modrall,
for their complete disregard of open government laws.



... and now it all makes sense.

So what's with Phill and Kent?

Kent Walz is an editor of the Albuquerque Journal.
Phill Casaus is an editor of the Albuquerque Tribune.

Walz is on the Executive Committee of the NMFOG.
Phill Casaus is on their Board of Directors.

The Foundation for Open Government exists I suppose,
for purpose of fighting for open government.

What is more fundamentally open government
than public servants providing good faith responses
to legitimate questions about the public interests,
and about their public service?


So why are Walz and Cauaus so accommodating
to the leadership of the APS;

who have never had, and who never will have,
a town hall meeting?

and who never have, and who never will,
stand and deliver the truth?

Still no answers

Is is OK that,
the leadership of the APS will never answer a question?

They are public servants. The questions are legitimate.
They are on the clock; and on the public dime.

Ms. Everitt,

Schedule a town hall meeting.

There, to stand and deliver good faith responses
to legitimate questions about the public interests
in the public schools.

And what in the hell good, is a newspaper
that will not echo that demand?

Not at school.

Regardless of what is going on the community;
and regardless of what is going on in a student's
world; we can draw lines between acceptable and
unacceptable behavior.

We can impose consequences for crossing those lines;
consequences that are likely to mitigate inappropriate behavior.

We can provide teaching and learning environments
that are safe and educationally efficient.


It is a matter only of will.

Will we examine the problem honestly?
Will we involve stakeholders in solutions and
in the decision making process that identifies them?


Or will we continue to invest our energy and resources
in more layers of bureaucrats filling more offices
in the Uptown Administrative Complex?

Why has one of the limited and over stretched home hospital program teaching slots, been eliminated in order to fund another administrative slot and fill another office in the APS UAC?

Why won't the leadership answer questions
about their priorities?

Why don't they have to?

"I think they were all loaded," Guzman said of the guns.

From the Trib tonight. (link)

"APS Police Lt. Dave Guzman said this was the fourth weapon confiscated on school property since classes began in August."

How many guns are left?

With the arrest of the fourth student at school with a loaded gun, have we got them all? Have we got half?

If we have even a tenth, there are 36 loaded guns left. They are distributed more or less evenly through out schools in the APS. There is no high school that does not have one.

And that is unacceptable.

The leadership of the APS has offered no leadership in the battle to regain and retain control over high school campuses.

The have do not even have a plan. The leadership of the APS can provide no written Discipline Philosophy Statement. They have simply surrendered the authority of adults over children at school. And then abdicated their responsibility to enforce the district's discipline policies, to teachers and site staff who have neither the power nor resources to make even a dent in the problem.

The problems with test scores and drop out rates will not be solved except by first restoring order to the teaching and learning environment.

The problem cannot be solved without admitting to the problem. It cannot hidden, and solved.

They have no plan,
because they have no intention,
because they haven't the will,
to restore the authority of adults over children.

The haven't a plan, and they haven't a clue.



They cannot be required to explain, defend,
or even acknowledge they have no district wide plan
to deal with chronically disruptive students
on regular school campuses.

Certainly not by me.

And just as certainly; apparently
not by our friends in the media.

STAMPEDE! !!!

The rush is on to fill the remaining vacancies in the Uptown APS Administrative Complex.

Offices in the twin towers of the newly refurbished complex are handsomely appointed, in a very prestigious location, and have breath taking views. Restaurants and shopping are a stroll away. Freeway access is a stone's throw from your own underground parking space.

If you want one of the remaining office suites, you haven't much time to dawdle. A hurried effort is being made to fill the remaining vacancies with the administrative elite and their indentured.

This despite a promise from the leadership of the APS that a significant part of the complex would be rented out to non-APS in order to mitigate the expense of buying and maintaining some of the most expensive office space in Albuquerque.

Students and their teachers of course,
need not apply.


As always, I will bow to (and honestly report upon)
any controverting fact.

APS' Uptown Administrative Complex

If only we knew the truth.

If you are a senior APS administrator, your chair rolls around an office with an unobstructed view of Mount Taylor, or the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Perhaps you have been stuck with the relatively mundane view of the Sandias. If your seat is at the bottom of the food chain, at the top of the building; you can see Los Lunas and Belen; on a clear day, maybe Socorro.

If you settle down in your chair just a little, the window sill will block from your view; 123 schools, 10,000 employees, 99,000 students, and all of the bothersome bitching about how hard their lives are.


My bet, is that you would be rolling around on brand new wheels.

A whole bunch of really nice, nearly new executive desk chairs just showed up in the Martin/DeLayo "community" room. They appear to be cast offs; to be squabbled over by the less privileged occupants of the Uptown Complex. By my estimation; they probably cost two or three hundred dollars a piece; (and were probably purchased from some APS vendor who chipped in a few hundred or a few thousand dollars to the APS Foundation, and ultimately the Inn of the Mountain Gods). (link)

Did APS stakeholders just pay for a whole bunch of even more expensive executive chairs for the overworked asses in senior administration?


At least they were kind enough to let the great unwashed roll around in their cast offs.


As always, I will bow to (and report honestly upon)
any controverting fact.

NM FOG's Giant Step Backwards

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (link) has appointed a new executive director to replace the much respected Robert "Bob" Johnson, who passed away recently.

The Journal reported this morning that Leonard DeLayo has been chosen to fill the very large shoes of the foundation's founder. (no available link)

When an organization selects an executive director there is an inherent possibility that it will "shoot itself in the foot"; it will appoint someone who in the end,
will hurt the organizational interests.

Those at NMFOG, who voted for Leonard DeLayo
as the new Executive Director, have instead
blown both legs off at the knees.

While "serving" on the APS Board of Education,
Leonard DeLayo voted for, tacitly approved of,
or failed to stand in opposition to assaults on
the very interests that the NMFOG is dedicated to.

The school board removed the public forum from the public record.

They eliminated the only opportunity that had existed, where citizen stakeholders could stand nose to nose with their elected public servant; and ask questions about their public service.
They did so to prevent a particular question from being asked on the record. It had been asked in about a dozen previous public forums, and on the record. That record was then deliberately falsified and broadcast to the community. Missing from the broadcasts was board member responses to the following question; Will you, as a public servant, and as a steward of a billion tax dollars a year, and a senior role model for 99,000 of our sons and daughters, hold yourself honestly accountable to the student standard of conduct?

The school board removed language from the employee code of conduct that held them actually accountable as role models.

They removed language which read, In no case shall the standard for an adult be lower than the standard for students.

The school board denied protection to employees who expose ethical misconduct by administrators or board members.

They passed a Whistle Blower Policy that failed to provide protection for those whose expose ethical misconduct. They did so deliberately.

The APS BoE continues to employ the Modrall law firm to litigate exception for the leadership of the APS, from the public records act.

The President of the Modrall is the husband of School Board President Paula Maes. Modrall makes millions of tax dollars litigating exception to the law for senior administrators and board members. The exceptions to the NMIPRA in particular, fly in the face of everything the NMFOG fights for.

In diametric opposition to the interests of the NMFOG, Leonard DeLayo's record is of opposition to every effort to open up the government. He cannot point to a single vote that he cast in twenty years on the board, in support of open government in the APS.

You have to wonder why the NMFOG would even consider, much less select DeLayo. A visit to their website (link) suggests a possibility.

On the NMFOG Executive Committee;

• Kent Walz, editor Albuquerque Journal

The Journal of course, has steadfastly refused to report upon any of the anti NMFOG votes that DeLayo cast over the years. I don't mean refusing at this moment, I mean refusing over years and through at least three elections.

• Patrick J. Rogers, attorney, Modrall

Modrall is making millions of dollars off the APS, in part for litigating for the leadership of the APS, self exception to the law; including the open records act.

And on the NMFOG Board of Directors;

• Phill Casaus, Editor, Albuquerque Tribune

Casaus is absolutely aware of DeLayo's record. I have been dunning him about it for years. He absolutely refuses to expose the corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS. He absolutely refuses to stand in support of an immediate accountability audit of the administration of the APS.

• Terri Cole, President,Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce

The Chamber of Commerce used to support Character Counts. When I asked Cole and the Chamber for help in defending Character Counts against the assault of DeLayo and others, she refused. The Chamber website indicates that they have know abandoned Character Counts, in support of APS' abandonment.

• Michelle Donaldson, News Director,KRQE-TV

KRQE has videotape of me being thrown out of a board meeting for trying to exercise my legal and ethical rights to petition the board, on the record. I was removed, four times ultimately, by members of a publicly funded, private police force functioning as a Praetorian Guard. Their Commander at the time, was the now disgraced Gil Lovato.

I suspect that Donaldson has more than a passing acquaintance with Paula Maes, school board president, and President of the New Mexico Broadcasters Association.

It would appear that the leadership of the APS/Modrall,
in their efforts to hide public records from the public,
has little to fear from the the NM FOG or their
new Executive Director.

Earn cash with your computer at home!

I will pay for comments left on my blog.

I will pay twenty dollars to (at least) the first person
who leaves a comment on this blog that meets
but a few criteria.

Comments must meet an unequivocal standard,
in particular; The Pillars of Character Counts;
a widely recognized, accepted, and respected
code of ethics. It is the standard of conduct for
students in the APS.

I will provide a link to the Character Counts national website. There can be found, a document called Making Ethical Decisions. It will be the set of principles that govern the acceptability of a response. In other words your response must be ethical; technicalities, loopholes and legal weaselry are unacceptable. (link)

Justify any of the following situations and circumstances as acceptable and in the public interest, and in the interests of 99,000 of our sons and daughters.

• The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education has excepted itself from accountability to the student standard of conduct; abdicating as the district's most senior role models for students.
• The Superintendent has excepted herself from accountability to the student standard of conduct; abdicating as the senior administrative role models for students.
• The record of APS/Modrall is that, board members and senior administrators are not accountable even to the law.
• The leadership of the APS refuses to begin an immediate forensic accountability audit of the APS.
• The leadership of the APS refuses to explain, defend, or even acknowledge that they are refusing an audit.
• None of the Journal, the Trib, KOAT, KOB, or KRQE will investigate and report to stakeholders; the implications of, and the controversy over, an immediate forensic accountability audit of the leadership of the APS.
  

the whole, is greater than the sum of the parts

The length of a news cycle approximates the attention span of the public.

The editorial (link, sub req) about hiding the truth at Madison Middle School will be forgotten by the next editorial. It will not be added to the other parts;
which themselves have not been added together.

People forget that the truth hiding at Madison, followed the truth hiding in the APS Finance Department, the truth hiding in grade gate, the truth hiding in the APS Police Department scandal, the truth hiding in Micheal Vigil's drunk driving arrest, and the truth hiding about every other senior administrator who was given a few hundred thousand tax dollars along with their discharge; which followed the truth hiding in the M&O scandal (which cost taxpayers as much as a half million dollars),

which accompanies the truth hiding about spending at the Uptown Administrative Complex.


It would appear that unless all of the parts appear in one news cycle;

unless either the Journal, the Trib, or TV news investigates and reports upon the widespread and deeply embedded suppression of the truth by the leadership of the APS; (an investigation which would reveal far more examples than are served by my poor memory);

stakeholders will never assemble the parts into a sum
greater than the parts; the sum conclusion that;

the leadership of the APS cannot be trusted
to tell the truth.


And if the leadership of the APS can not be trusted
to tell stakeholders the un-spun and honest truth,

Is it not time for a full scale forensic audit
of accountability in the administration of the public
trust, and power, and resources, in the APS?

Is it not time to replace the leadership of the APS
with people that the community can trust?

Albuquerque (public) Schools

The leadership of the APS has been taken to task by a Journal editorial this morning. (link sub req)

"Albuquerque Public Schools, operated with public money, is supposed to serve public school children's educational needs. But when it comes to giving the public the straight story about an incident of obvious public interest to the ... community, district officials would rather duck and cover."

Nothing will change because the point will not be pushed.

It will not be pushed because it is feckless to do so.

Because the leadership of the APS is not accountable
to the community in any manner which will prevent
them from repeatedly acting to protect
their own interests in lieu of the public interest.

If this sounds like a broken record, it is because
the issue surfaces again, and again, and again,
without amelioration, and without any response from
the leadership of the APS, except more false promises
of their intention to improve communication with stakeholders.

Employee conduct. Out of school and away from students

Teacher’s contracts are very specific. They spell out exactly the hours and the days when a teacher is a teacher.

And there is a history of very literal interpretation of contract language by the leadership of the APS.

I am aware of at least one teacher who tried to break up a student fight; off school grounds and after school hours. He was injured; rather severely. The leadership of the APS decided that he did not enjoy their protection because he was off school grounds and it was after school.

Now, the leadership of the APS has decided to broaden their interpretation of contract language. They would like to hold teachers and other employees accountable for their conduct outside of school hours and away from students. Robert Lucero in particular, would like to crucify teachers who are caught driving drunk, and off the clock.

Employees will resist on at least two counts;

1. they will not have been meaningfully involved in a decision that affected their interests, and
2. they will resent being held accountable, by the leadership of the APS, to a higher standard of conduct, than the standard to which administrators and board members are accountable.

The most outrageous part of the whole thing; the part that is absolutely laughable, is that Robert Lucero wants to hold teachers accountable outside school hours solely because they are still role models for students; even when they are not at work.

Yet he has deliberately and methodically excepted himself from any personal accountability as a role model of any standard of conduct at all. Not as a public servant and the steward of a billion tax dollars a year, and not as one of the most senior role models in the entire district.



He, ... and the rest of the leadership of the APS.

Public Servants of Character

will discuss the character of their public service;
candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.

If they will not, they are not.

Open Government Laws test character

When tested,
Beth Everitt failed.
As did Kari Brandenburg.
As did Darren White.

There is no law written so succinctly, so unequivocally,
that there is not a lawyer without scruples,
who can argue that the law was in fact written
in the self interests of their client.

The test of character is not in whether or not the law
was followed in a "legal" sense; but in whether or not
the intent of the law was followed in an "ethical" sense.

When given a test of opening up the public record
of their conduct and competence as public servants,
and candidly, forthrightly and honestly discussing
their involvement in the criminal misuse of
the criminal background check system; they failed.

They chose to interpret open government laws,
not in the public interest, but in their own.

Everitt, and Brandenburg, and White
are all behaving "legally"; and if they are not,
their lawyers can still argue forever, that they are.

Everitt, and Brandenburg, and White
may be behaving "legally",
but they are not behaving "ethically".

There are actually laws that require public servants
to behave ethically. NM State Statute 10.16.3 requires
public officials to;

" ...discharge ethically the high responsibilities of public service."

The law is dated 1978. When I asked the 2nd Judicial
District Court Clerk for the records of complaints filed
under the law, I was told that there is no record
that any public servant has ever been held
accountable to that law.

"Apparently, it has never been necessary."
she said.

Public servants are apparently not accountable to
the law. Despite the fact that obedience to the law,
is obedience to the lowest standard of conduct
that decent humans beings will tolerate in each other.

Corrupt and incompetent public servants have created
a system under which they are held accountable
by law to a higher standard of conduct;
and then excepted themselves from any real
or honest accountability to that law.

So, while Everitt and Brandenburg and White are
technically obeying the law; they are demonstrating
that they 1) lack character, and that 2) they cannot
be held accountable for their lack of character.

One of them is the superintendent of the 20th largest
school district in the United States.
One of them is the top law enforcement officer
in the largest judicial district in New Mexico.
One of them is the top cop in Bernalillo County,
and running for congress.

Without explanation, without defense, and with having
even to acknowledge their manifest lack of character.


We are screwed.

APS teacher morale and absenteeism are 3 times worse than the national average

According to APS, teachers in the APS are absent 8.7% of the time. The national average for teachers and instructional staff is 5.2 %.

The issue is illegitimate absences, not legitimate.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that teachers are actually sick 4% of the time and their consequent absence is legitimate. Remember that teachers hang around sick kids all day, every day. And 4% represents less than one full day per month.

We are left then with a national average of 1.2% illegitimate absences.

We are left then with, in the APS, 4.7% illegitimate absences.

The 3.5% difference, divided by the 1.2% national average of illegitimate absences, yields 2.92. Or, APS teacher morale and absenteeism are 292% worse than the national average.

Or, it sucks so bad to be a teacher in the APS,
that teachers here take "mental health days"
almost three times as often as teachers nationwide.


Sometime after the leadership of the APS
admits that there is a problem;
they will start working on its solution.


In the meantime, they are content spin the truth
and allow teachers to take the heat from stakeholders.

Rep. Says Teachers Absent Too Often

The Journal reports; (link, sub req)

APS teachers are taking too many days off; according to an audit by the state's Legislative Finance Committee. APS teachers take off more sick days than the national average among teachers and instructional support staff.

The numbers are provided by APS. In the APS, the absence rate is 8.7%. The national average is 5.2%. Therefore, according the leadership of the APS, and the Journal; APS teachers have 3.5% more absences.

3.5% more, so what? you might wonder.

While their math is technically correct; the real math is that APS teachers have an absence rate that is 67% higher than the national average.

67% higher; and now the problem is more apparent.


The reason the leadership of the APS and Journal, chose to spin the truth, rather than tell the truth, is; absenteeism and employee morale are directly and inversely correlated. And, the leadership of the APS owns the issue of employee morale.

The truth is that, teacher morale in the APS is 67% worse than teacher morale nationally; not 3.5%.

The leadership of the APS is doing a 67% worse job of maintaining and bolstering employee morale;
not 3.5%.

The failure of the leadership of the APS to inspire and motivate teachers is the fallout from their policy of tolerating and enabling administrative incompetence and corruption.

Morale plummets when administrators decide to spend millions of dollars fixing up their digs on Uptown Blvd, at the expense of teachers and kids in substandard classrooms and schools.

Teachers do not own the absenteeism issue
except on an individual basis. District wide
the leadership of the APS owns the absenteeism issue.

They do not want to be held accountable;
so they have spun the truth;

with the aid and abet of the Journal.

Tagging Damage Up to $10K

According to the Journal; (link - sub req)

There is a little inter school rivalry building between West Mesa High School and Albuquerque High.

Apparently, some students from AHS went over to WMHS and vandalized WM's mascot; a mustang. They painted it green and strapped a dildo onto its head. The students signed their work with what APS spokesperson Rigo Chavez described as "clues"; "AHS" and paw prints. (Sherlock) recognized that AHS could mean Albuquerque High School, and that paw prints could associated with the AHS mascot; a (bull)dog.

In apparent retaliation; some students from WMHS went over to AHS and did about $10K worth of damage. They left more "clues" like "mustangs" spray painted over the AHS bulldog. The leadership of the APS conceded that "mustangs" could refer to the WMHS mascot which is coincidently a mustang.

The APS leadership's line;

"What people are quick to do is point fingers," Albuquerque High Principal Tim McCorkle said. "... There's no proof my kids did it over there, or their kids did it over here."

Another APS administrator, whose name I didn't catch, was on TV to float the idea that some unidentified third party was trying to stir up trouble between schools.

Unclear is any apparent motive behind the expensive and dangerous clandestine operation.


The leadership of the APS has assured the community that they are studying crappy video tapes, in an attempt to identify the perpetrators, from a dozen grainy pixels of each of their faces.


The leadership of the APS spent $700K dollars repairing vandalism last year.

They also a million dollars refurbishing an unnecessary board room. That million alone could have substantially upgraded the District's ability to identify vandals and recover damages.

Instead of installing the necessary lighting and video surveillance to protect schools, they spent millions of dollars refurbishing the Uptown Administrative Complex.



Submitted, as proof of incompetency.

Student Killed

A kid has been shot to death.

I am compelled to point out;

• If students in the APS were held accountable to the Pillars of Character Counts;

• if the District was really promoting and modeling the Pillars of Character Counts;

• if the leadership of the APS had not abdicated their responsibilities as role models for students, of the Pillars of Character Counts;

It would be more likely that students would be good citizens; respectful, responsible, caring, fair and trustworthy.

It would be considerably less likely that they would be out throwing golf balls at strangers;

and there would one less dead kid.

They could not be more responsible except that the murder took place on school ground.



The issue of modeling and promoting the Pillars of Character Counts; is not an unimportant issue.

It may very well be the most important issue of all.

APS' reputation to be sacrificed to protect Everitt's

In an editorial bull's eye, the journal editorial clearly states the salient points. (link, sub req)

"It's one thing to want to follow federal law. It's another to follow it blindly at the expense of a school district's reputation and an employee's rights. That's apparently what the state hopes to do in the case of Albuquerque Public Schools administrator Elsy Fierro."

Consider open government laws. Any one of them can be interpreted in diametrically opposite ways. One uses the law to require the greatest disclosure of the truth, the other uses the law to justify the greatest secrecy.

While lawyers of the latter have a place on earth perhaps;

they do not have a place in public service.

The public should not be paying for the lawyers of corrupt and incompetent public servants, who are trying to escape accountability for their corruption and incompetence. The public should not be paying the salaries of lawyers litigating against the public interest.

The lawyers who's salaries are paid by the public, should be representing the public interest; and they should be litigating against public corruption, incompetence, and the secrecy that enables them.

There are APS administrators who's reputations would suffer if the whole truth were known. There are administrators in the New Mexico Public Education Department, and the New Mexico Educators Ethics Bureau, who's reputations will suffer if the whole truth were known.

There is no other reason to pay lawyers to litigate exception to open government laws.

"Fierro deserves the chance to publicly clear her name. And everyone connected to APS— from the teachers who give F's to the parents who support their kids to the taxpayers who fund the district— deserves to know its officials are held accountable."

...according to the Journal.

Passing a Lemon

The APS school board has exactly one employee;
the superintendent of the APS.

They are obligated to evaluate their one employee every year.

Paula Maes and Robert Lucero both said that they didn't really need to do an evaluation this year; they were so pleased with her superintendency that they were prepared to offer Beth Everitt an extension of her contract regardless.

Never the less, the board still has an obligation to complete an honest evaluation her previous year of superintendency; including the principal shuffle, gradegate, and the scandal surrounding the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS Police Department.

They will not; and their evaluation will not be part of the package that Everitt has to shop around before prospective employers.

She was spared an evaluation, apparently in exchange for her resignation.

Which is exactly the way lemons are passed from one school district to another. Which is exactly the way predatory pedophiles are moved from one teaching job to the next.

James Monroe Middle School to Dedicate “Character” Pillars

According to the APS website (link) there will be a Character Counts celebration at James Monroe Middle School.

Apparently the celebration is "student driven" which is particularly encouraging. As I have written before, I believe that Character Counts is far and away, our best opportunity to reach young people on a level which will really make a difference in the lives of students, and in their education.

Also expected to attend the ceremonies are the state Character Counts coordinator Carole Smith and other state representatives.

Carole Smith is an APS employee, a director, who works out of an office high up in the Uptown Administrative Complex.

Her claim to fame so far, is to prevent the Character Counts Leadership Council from discussing the fact that the leadership of the APS has abandoned the Pillars of Character Counts as their own personal standard of conduct; that they have abdicated their responsibilities as role models.

Which makes Carole Smith a perfect employee in the eyes of those in the leadership of the APS who wish to except themselves from honest accountability to any meaningful standard of conduct.

Go Carole.

The Trib owes APS Police Officers an Apology

There is a political cartoon in the Trib tonight; Glasgow's View. I can't find it on line so I can't link you to it.

The gist is that, APS police officers are so feeble and incompetent that arming them results only in a ready source of guns for miscreants. It is not a political cartoon in the sense that it does not illustrate any point in the argument over arming APS police, controversial or otherwise.

It is offensive and based on no facts in evidence.

It is a cheap shot; nothing more.


Glasgow,
You're an asshole.

Their is no undiscovered corruption or incompetence in the leadership of the APS; none.

Say the leadership of the APS; trust us.

They offer no other assurance that incompetence and corruption in the leadership of the APS have been discovered and dealt with, consistent with the public interest.

1. They offer no meaningful standards of conduct or competence, against which their conduct and competence can be measured.
2. They offer no means, by which allegations of corruption and/or incompetence, will see a principled resolution.

Submitted as proof:

Ms. Armenta,

Is it true that the code of ethics recently adopted by the board of education, as their own standard of conduct, is (1) comparatively meaningless* and (2)absolutely unenforceable?

*compared to say; the student standard of conduct.

By her response, you will know the truth;
especially if her response is, to say nothing at all.

Elsy Fierro's Hearing Delayed

State May Drop Ethics Charges in Grade Case
(Journal, sub req)

"State Attorney Bruce Berlin said he tried to contact the student through his mother but was unsuccessful."

He would have been looking for permission to have the student's record opened up in a public hearing; thereby ending the controversy over whether or not the hearing needed to be secret from public knowledge.

If the mystery student were willing to be held honestly accountable to a higher standard of conduct; he would open the record of his conduct and competence as a student and accept the consequences.

If Teresa Cordova were willing to be a role model for her son, and honest with her constituents; she would open the record of her conduct and competence as a parent and a county commissioner.

If the leadership of the NM Educator Ethics Bureau, and the NM Public Education Department, were willing to be held accountable for their conduct and competence as public servants; they would not be using legal loopholes and technicalities to deny access to public records.

If the leadership of the APS, were willing to be held accountable for their conduct and competence as public servants; they would open the record of their public service to an honest and impartial forensic audit.

The common thread is obvious; no one is willing to hold themselves honestly accountable to any meaningful standard of conduct. And, they are willing to do anything to except themselves from accountability; even pervert the law.


None of which is being lost on those who look to them
as role models.



“Example has more followers than reason.”
— Christian Nevell Bovee, American author and lawyer (1820-1904)

"Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character."
— Albert Einstein, Swiss-American mathematician, physicist and public philosopher (1879-1955)

"Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike."
— Theodore Roosevelt, American adventurer and 26th president (1858-1919)

"The proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he’s born."
— William R. Inge, American playwright (1913-1973)

"If we want our children to possess the traits of character we most admire, we need to teach them what those traits are and why they deserve both admiration and allegiance. Children must learn to identify the forms and content of those traits."
— William J. Bennett, author and former U.S. Secretary of Education (b. 1943)

"The formation of character in young people is educationally a different task from and a prior task to, the discussion of the great, difficult ethical controversies of the day."
— William J. Bennett, author and former U.S. Secretary of Education (b. 1943)

"A man's character is his fate."
— Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (c. 540-c. 475 B.C.)



"If you can’t explain what you’re doing in simple English, you’re probably doing something wrong."
— Alfred Kazin, American critic and author (1915-1998)

APS administrator wants open ethics hearing

From the Trib; a report by Susie Gran. (link)

The story is the same; Elsy Fierro and her attorney are arguing that she has a right to a public hearing.

The Educator Ethics Bureau and the Public Education Department say they are "required" to conduct the hearing secret from public knowledge.

These are the same people who did an "official" investigation of gradegate and did not interview Beth Everitt on the record. (link)

If they were actually ethical; they would be surrendering the truth to public knowledge. Instead they are doing everything they can to keep it hidden; even in violation of the law.

Their exception to the law is litigated by lawyers
working on the public dime.


There is no good reason to hide the truth.
If there was a good reason; they would offer it
to public scrutiny.

Really, they would.

Trib Editorial; superficial understanding of a complex dynamic

Our failing schools need more than talk. (link)

The editors place the brunt of the blame on No Child Left Behind. Although there is more than enough anecdotal evidence that, NCLB is causing more harm than good; it is far from the greatest barrier standing between children and a quality education.

If you asked me; or if you asked teachers to tell you what stands between children and their quality education; they would offer;

• that children aren't interested enough in their own education,

• and that children don't have self discipline enough to learn despite their abject lack of interest and/or motivation.

The biggest problem with the NCLB, is that it requires that we teach subjects that don't intrinsically interest or motivate students.

Which is not to say that there are not mandatory subjects. Children for example, should be able to read as a result of their public school education. NCLB compels us to reach that goal by having every single student in every single classroom, reading on the same page, in the same book, and on the same day. The NCLB requires that the book be one that students would not be, at the moment, reading of their own volition.

What if the choice is;

1. you teach children what they want to learn. You turn schools into happy places where children are eager and hungry and excited about learning. (And you hope that over the length of their public school education; they have learned all of the things that they need to know to become decent human beings with adequate skills sets for their life.)
2. Or, you demand that children learn what you tell them , and when you tell them.

The old saw applies. You can lead a horse to water; but you can't make it drink.


The editors observed;

Among these efforts is a shakeup that, in part, is moving veteran principals from successful schools to unsuccessful ones to fix them. Such rotations might or might not work, but the sheer magnitude of the problem seems to preclude this as the sole solution.

correctly.

Still, too much effort and too many resources are being spent in the effort to prove that if you just assign enough administrators, the horse can be made to drink.

The editors echo that sentiment;

Part of the equation, we suspect, might be to test less and teach more.

In other words; if we continue doing the same thing,
but we do it more;
we will achieve a different result than the result
we have always achieved, ...always.

Isn't that the definition of crazy?

The Character of the Cure

Fredrick William “Bill” Reed III has been named director of the APS Police Department.

I have been taken to task by a reader, for not giving him a chance;

"How about we give the guy a chance before we start holding him accountable for other's mistakes."

I have been misunderstood.

I have not suggested that the new APS top cop be held accountable for anything; in particular I have not suggested that he be held accountable for the previous public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS (police department).

I have asked that he declare his intentions with regard to fixing the problems.

Does he intend to fix things on the QT; protecting all of those who's incompetence and/or corruption led to the debacle? Will he continue the exception to accountability that is enjoyed by the leadership of the APS?

Or, does he intend to fix things openly and above the board; letting the chips fall where they may?

This is an appropriate question for his first day.
It was an appropriate question to ask before he was hired.

I suspect that the question was asked before he was hired. I suspect that he answered the question correctly, and that is why he was hired. I suspect that the answer to the question was that he was in fact, prepared to continue to hide the truth from stakeholders; and protect senior APS administrators from exposure.


The fact that he is stonewalling the question,
tends to indicate that the truth would not sit well with stakeholders.

The stonewalling tends to indicate that he will attempt to fix the problems in the leadership of the APS Police Department, without exposing any of the corruption and incompetence that caused them. It tends to indicate that he is prepared to protect Tom Savage, Gil Lovato, and any others in the leadership who have culpability in the scandal.

He could dissipate the cloud of questions over his head by simply answering them. And if he won't; then we have real reason to suspect his intentions.

... even from the very first day.

Ethics Hearing For APS Closed

The Journal reports;" (sub req)

A state hearing officer has closed today's ethics hearing for Albuquerque Public Schools administrator Elsy Fierro, citing concerns about student records.
Attorney Gail Stewart has filed a motion in state District Court to open the hearing on behalf of Fierro, but Judge Nan Nash is not scheduled to consider the matter until Nov. 8.
"They don't have a right to close this hearing," Stewart said. "Dr. Fierro wants it to be an open hearing."

So who are you going to believe when conflicting stories emerge; the person who wants the whole thing open and above the board, or those who want the whole thing done in secret?

APS/Modrall, the NM Educator Ethics Bureau, and the NM Public Education Department, all have a lot to hide. The previous investigation, conducted by the NMPED and NMEEB, did not include interviews with Superintendent Everitt, any other teachers or the parents.

Beth Everitt has still to make any statement, on the record, and under oath, regarding her participation in the grade change. The investigation, and the whole process including the hearing today, smack of incompetence and/or blatant public corruption.

Or, business as usual. (link)

Police Chief Reed; scmole model?

Link to a previous essay; Role models, schmole models

The student standard of conduct; if applied to the new
APS Chief of Police, would require that he sit and
answer questions regarding the public interest,
and regarding his public service.
... candidly, honestly, forthrightly.

If we want students to come to believe that,
their character counts; we acquire obligations.
Not the least of which is, we are required to show students what a commitment to character looks like.

Character is taught by modeling;
in fact, it is taught only by modeling.

Every generation tells the following generation,
a story about George Washington.
That story is among the first stories told to children
for a reason. It is because the first rule is:
you have to obey all of the other rules.
And the difference between children and adults
is who enforces the first rule;
is the control internal or external?

We begin with the story about holding one's self accountable to illustrate the importance of holding one's self accountable for one's conduct.

And the importance holding one's self accountable to a higher standard of conduct than the law; the lowest standard of acceptable conduct.

Every generation expects the next generation,
to be the first to hold itself honestly accountable
to a higher standard of conduct.
But their talk is not their walk.
By following the example that is set for them,
every following generation learns to
except itself from accountability
to any standard of conduct at all.


The average student in the APS has no idea what
is going on in the leadership of the APS.
But what is going on their sets the tone for
the entire organization.
Students may not see the corruption first hand,
but they will certainly and inevitably, feel it.

Mr. Reed will or will not hold a "town meeting";
there, to win the confidence and trust of stakeholders;
to remove the cloud of suspicion
over the administration of the APS police department.


No one in the leadership of the APS
will simply sit and answer a legitimate questions.
Not one, will model and promote
the student standard of conduct. Not one,
will hold themselves honestly accountable to
the Pillars of Character Counts; not even the
School Board President Paula Maes; President of the
Character Counts Leadership Council.
Not even Carole Smith, an APS senior administrator
whose job it is to model and promote
the Pillars of Character Counts;
the administrator most directly accountable for
the character and conduct of a hundred thousand
of our sons and daughters.

Role models or schmole models?

Town meeting or no town meeting?


You will not read about this in the Journal or the Trib.
nor will you see it on the news.

Scmole models?

Cloud hangs over supt. search

If, when the leadership of the APS when searching for a top cop, they hired someone who intends not to be candid, forthright, and honest about the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS (Police Department);

what makes you think they won't
use that same criteria to hire the new superintendent?