How often do you get a chance to stand up for what you believe in?

When will you again?

I will read a petition of sorts,
at public forum tonight.

I will read it in the form of a motion.

It is your Constitutionally
protected human right to stand up in support of that motion. And by that I mean literally stand up to be counted.

Know that if you do stand up in support of the petition, you will be standing up in violation of School Board Rules of Decorum for school board meetings.

The consequences could include being removed from the meeting upon the order of the board and by their publicly funded private police force.

It takes a preliminary injunction from a federal district court judge to stop their
Praetorian Guard from ejecting peaceful poster holders from open meetings.

Though this is about the message and not about the messenger, the two cannot be separated further than my assurance that standing up in support of the motion implies support of nothing else, and not of me.

That said, the motion and me, because I will stand up at public forum to read it, should be part of the discourse around the election of new school board members and the hiring of the next superintendent.

Your real "risk and sacrifice" should you decide to stand up are; you can't really take back standing up, and you will have to get yourself to the John Milne Community Board Room in time for public forum.  The meeting starts at 5; the public forum usually follows within a half hour or so.
 
People have taken greater risks and sacrificed more profoundly surely, in support of your Constitutionally protected human rights to freely assemble, speak freely, and petition your government.

What better way to protect your rights than to exercise them freely?  What better way to say thank you to those whose sacrifices enable you, than by exercising them often?

A motion in support of community member seats on the APS District and Community Relations Committee.

• Whereas the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Code of Ethics calls for the establishment of open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the communities and community members they serve, and
• Whereas there is no regular venue where communities and community members can engage in open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and those communities and community members, and
• Whereas participatory decision making including constructive study, discussion, and active participation by citizens is in the best interests of students and the best program of education in the community.

Be it therefore resolved;

There will be created on the District and Community Relations Committee, seats for communities and community members in order that they may participate as equals in the consideration of the disposition of their interests in the public schools*.

*The framework of which will decided during their very first meetings.

However it is organized, there will be stumbling blocks, not the least of which is;

One of the primary risks in any participative decision-making or power-sharing process is that the desire on the part the school board and superintendent for more inclusive participation is not genuine.

Because it is easy to mislead people into thinking they are making decisions when in truth the decision and the decision makers are already decided.

"There is a critical difference between going through the empty ritual of participation and having the real power needed to affect the outcome of the process". Arnstein

Participation without redistribution of power is an empty and frustrating process for the powerless. It allows the power holders to claim that all sides were considered, but makes it possible for only some of those sides to benefit.

I hope we will agree and decide that;

• The basic concept is a power-sharing arrangement in which decision making influence is shared among individuals who are otherwise hierarchically unequal.
• Each committee member has an opportunity to share their perspectives, voice their ideas and tap their skills to improve team effectiveness and efficiency.
• Participatory decision-making will ensure a completeness of decision-making and increase community and community member commitment to final decisions.
• Participative decision-making will encourage communities and community members to participate meaningfully in organizational decision-making. It will create a sense of belonging to the organization. It will increase morale.
• The conversation will be impartially facilitated in order to synthesize all the available information into the best possible decision.

I submit that school board members, in particular those who are running for election, owe their constituents a candid, forthright and honest response to the question;

Will you support a motion to create communities and community members seats at a roundtable discussions with the leadership of the APS as a part of District and Community Relations Committee meetings?

Any answer except yes, means no.




photos Mark Bralley

Journal coverage of APS School Board election begins - finally

This morning, Journal Staff Writer Jon Swedien began Journal coverage on the election, link.

The Journal reporter handed in the report late without notice or apology;

Early voting already has begun in the election ...

 He wrote about the stakes on the table;

 ... voters will decide who ultimately hires ... the superintendent and (will set) policy for the district, which has about 90,000 students, some 14,000 employees and a $690 million operating budget. emphasis added

And then, apropos of nothing in particular, (Kent Walz et al dba staff write Swedien) gave Interim Supt Brad Winter's public image a little boost;

Acting Superintendent Brad Winter has taken steps to improve that relationship (with the NM PED)...

Good for Brad! Go Brad!

The editors; Kent Walz et al, relentlessly choose to not point out that;

• Brad Winter has negligently allowed or knowingly permitted public resources to be used to cover up a cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators*.  
And or that
• Brad Winter has not taken steps to produce a candid, forthright and honest accounting of spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd*.

*All anyone has to do to refute either or both of these allegations to produce the truth;

• The ethically redacted findings of investigations of allegations of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators, and or 
• a candid, forthright and honest accounting of spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd.

If they won't tell you the ethically redacted truth about what they did yesterday;
if they won't tell you the truth what they are doing today;
why in the world would you believe they will tell you the truth any thing the do in the future?

Whatever else this Journal coverage is;
it is not candid, forthright and honest.
It does not sustain the democracy.
It thwarts it.
It is a betrayal of trust.

It is at the very least, journalistic malpractice.

More "rules" for APS forum; now "no campaigning".

Candidates intending to participate in the APS School Board Election Candidate Forum received the following letter from the Board's Executive Director Brenda Yager; here quoted in significant part;

We received a question about campaigning on school property. There is information about this on the aps.edu website. Below are two important highlights. You can read the entire procedural directive at: link ...

Definitions

For purposes of this procedural directive, “campaign” means posting, distributing and displaying promotional literature; soliciting contributions; and meeting, greeting and conversing with individuals with the specific intent of endorsing one position and/or one candidate over another or persuading individuals to vote in any particular way.

Found at link

Campaigning on District Property

Elected officials, candidates for elective office and/or their representatives shall not post or distribute campaign materials and/or greet employees and students on district property unless it is Election Day as provided by state statute.

Persons shall not solicit contributions for any political campaign or receive, collect, handle, or disburse contributions or other funds for any political campaign within or on any district property.

Found at link.

Basically they're holding a candidate forum at which candidates are not allowed to persuade anyone to vote for them.

Seriously?

UPDATE; an update was mailed to candidates this morning;

I hope that you don’t mind that I’m sending this to all of the candidates. You asked an important question, and all candidates should receive information.

The rules do not apply to the forum tonight. All candidates are invited to bring brochures and fliers to tonight’s forum. After the voting site in the building closes for the day at 5 PM, we will have a table at the entrance of John Milne where the forum is being held tonight where all the brochures and fliers can be displayed. We can’t have any campaign materials present prior to the voting site closing though.

Signs within the room are discouraged since they are disruptive to people trying to see the candidates and for the cameras recording for the streaming and recording.

Thanks for asking for the clarification.

We’ll see you all tonight.

See how easily their silly old rules can be suspended at their will?
What's the point in having them in the first place?

A window closed today, on school board election coverage

There are a relatively few people in River City who care enough about government to actually do anything about it.

Tomorrow, their attention will be redirected from the school board election and the hiring of another superintendent to whatever shenanigans the state legislature has in store for us.  Whatever coverage the election could or should have had, was not delivered.

I am going to point to Journal Editor in Chief Kent Walz, though he isn't the only member of "the press" who have deliberately left the democracy mis and uninformed about APS' spending of its power and resources.

When the founding fathers chose to offer Constitutional protection for the free exercise of the human right to be the press, it must have been because they knew how important the press is, in a functioning democracy.

Kent Walz demanded, and received I suppose, responses from school board candidates to their candidate questionnaire by 5 pm Monday last; a full week ago. 

All he had to do was cut and paste the responses and he chose to wait.  All he had to do was report to the democracy that there is a very important election coming up and they need to pay more than 3.7% of their attention.

What is he waiting for?  The questions is rhetorical. 
He is waiting for his routine day after the election
editorial harrumph over voters lack of interest in the election.

The wheels are coming off their train.  Their cover up of the cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators is about to be exposed. 

Kent Walz and the Journal's relentless refusal to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of an ethics, standards and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS, is about to be exposed.

There is a public meeting tomorrow.  It will be held in the John Milne Community Board Room, link.

I refer to it as the Susie Rayos Marmon Board Room.  The board built the room instead of fixing leading roofs on portable classrooms at Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary School.

When the board bought the building, they promised to rent out half of it;
it was going to be a money maker for taxpayers. It became instead,
a money pit; millions and millions of dollars were spent "sprucing it up".

The board room construction was very expensive and over budget.  The construction was unjustified at the time and remains unjustified.  The actual number of dollars that were spent in its construction remain a mystery.

Winter here seen with Steve Tellez.
Winter was the "oversight" over APS'
publicly funded private police force. 
His failure to oversee competently was
the proximate cause of the corruption
in its leadership

APS Interim about to be interim for another year  Supt Brad Winter has been asked a number of times to produce a candid, forthright and honest accounting of the money they spent there.

He steadfastly refuses to comply.

There is really only one reason to not tell the truth, and that is to avoid the consequences of the truth being known.

Brad Winter does not want you to know how much money they spent there and on what.  He doesn't want you review the record of his stewardship of hundreds and hundreds of millions of capital dollars.

More importantly, Kent Walz does not want you to know about APS' stewardship of more than a billion tax dollars a year.  Former APS heavy hitter Paula Maes' and her cronies at the NM Broadcasters Assoc affiliate stations don't want you to know.

It is up to you to spread the word.

As far as I know, the candidate forum tomorrow evening and the public forum of the regular school board meeting Wednesday evening, represent your two of your last opportunities to actually stand up to be counted somewhere in defense of your interests in the Albuquerque public schools.


It is up to you to attend and stand up to be counted.

There is no equivalent gesture,
there well may not be another opportunity.




photos Mark Bralley

Participative decision-making in the leadership of the APS - a grand experiment?

When I began research for this essay, I intended to write in support of my belief that school board meetings should be facilitated.  Just because someone is a committee chair, doesn't mean they know how to run a meeting efficiently and effectively and fairly.

My search ended in the Wikipedia.  I found an excellent chapter on participative decision making, link. I recommend it to your time and attention.

The article is lengthy.  My own feelings are simple;
what ever else shared decision making is, it is the right thing to do.  And now is the right time to begin it.

The about to be recognized community seats on the APS Board of Education District and Community Relations Committee represent a grand experiment;

Can the finest minds in the leadership of the APS and community design and establish a venue in which there can be open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve?

Do our finest "leaders" have what it takes to lead?

----------------------------------------------------

I would like to share some thoughts I found in the Wikipedia.
By way of attribution, the points below rely heavily on cuts and pastes from the Wikipedia.  My rephrasing and rewording would compel a confusion of quotation marks so I won't.

• The basic concept is a power-sharing arrangement in which decision making influence is shared among individuals who are otherwise hierarchically unequal.
• Each committee member has an opportunity to share their perspectives, voice their ideas and tap their skills to improve team effectiveness and efficiency.
• Participatory decision-making in the leadership of the APS can ensure the completeness of decision-making and likely will increase community and community member commitment to final decisions.
• Participative decision-making  allows and encourages communities and community members to participate meaningfully in organizational decision-making. It creates a sense of belonging to the organization.
• Participation without redistribution of power is an empty and frustrating process for the powerless. It allows the power holders to claim that all sides were considered, but makes it possible for only some of those sides to benefit.
• One of the primary risks in any participative decision-making or power-sharing process is that the desire on the part the school board and superintendent for more inclusive participation is not genuine.

  "There is a critical difference between going through the empty ritual of participation and having the real power needed to affect the outcome of the process. Arnstein

• Participative leadership will increase morale.
• "Democratic decision making" involves facilitating the conversation, encouraging people to share their ideas, and then synthesizing all the available information into the best possible decision. 
• "Consensus decision-making", gives the responsibility of the decision to the members of the committee. Everyone must agree and come to the same decision. This might take a while, but the decisions are among the best since it involves the ideas and skills of many other people. Team work is important in this style and brings members closer together while trust and communication increase.

Act like you care

Your interests are at stake in the school board election.
Your interests include a seat at the table.

You have no seat at any table around which the leadership of the APS; electeds and public servants, will sit.  Nowhere do you have their close attention.

There is an opportunity to claim "community member" seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools District and Community Relations Committee.  All you have to do is care enough to claim it.

Though one can act without caring, 
one cannot care without acting. unk derived

If you care about seats for everybody, know that
the seats aren't going to come free.  There will be a fight.
Freedom is not free.  Liberty is not free.
The free exercise of Constitutionally protected human rights does not come free.

Do nothing and struggle forever in the futile attempt to assemble coalitions powerful enough to expect the school board's close attention.

Or; step up and claim rightful seats. 

When Edmund Burke wrote;

All that is necessary for evil to prevail in the world
is for good wo/men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

these were the circumstances he was writing about,
and you are the people he was writing to.

If you want your seat at the table, you are going to have to seize it.  You are going to have to stand up for what you believe in.

The Journal is never going to write about community member seats on the District and Community Relations Committee,  There isn't going to be an editorial endorsing them or explaining the good and ethical reasons they are not.

The editors going to pretend it never came up.
As far as I know, the Journal hasn't been to a single candidate forum.  Voting has begun and the Journal hasn't even published the candidate questionnaires, much less investigated and reported on any of the real issues.

Your next and perhaps only opportunity to go somewhere, do something and be counted, will come at the Candidate Forum next Tuesday.

You can put the question of community members seats on a school board committee on the table.  You can insist that candidates respond candidly, forthrightly and honestly regarding their intention to honor your seats.

Do you support adding community member seats to the membership of the District and Community Relations Committee for the purpose of beginning open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the communities and community members they serve? 

Why, or why not?

Act.
Act now.
Act like you care.

Community member seats at the table where decisions are made that affect their interests.  An idea whose time has come.

"The right time to do the right thing, 
is always right now". unk

What might the first Roundtable look like?

It would be nice if we could come up with a table that was actually round; even if that meant folding card tables arranged in a circle.

The meeting would be facilitated.  Every effort will be made to maximize the meaningful participation of stake and interest holder communities and community members.*

*At this point the discussion is want to dissolve into defining terms.  Now is not the time to define terms.  The "terms" will be defined during the first Roundtable meetings.

However it is we figure out how to fold in stake and interest holders, we will fold in as many of them as we can.  We will become the top of the list when someone searches the  Googler for; "'best practice' in open and honest two-way communication between politicians and public servants and the community members they serve".

"The most important decision any group can make,
is when they decide how they will decide.
It should also be their first." unk

The people sitting around the table will be in agreement on the subject to be discussed.  They might have for example, agreed to talk about a motion to change school board policy in order to accommodate a particular community or community member's interests.

Their collaborative effort will be to compile as complete an understanding of the issues as can be produced by open and honest two-way discussion characterized by candor, forthrightness and honesty*.

*Candor, forthrightness and honesty in communication is a tenet of APS student standards of conduct.  They are not (yet) part of school board and senior administrative standards of conduct.

At the conclusion, there will be public record of the discussion and any decision the group might decide to make.  The committee's decision is subject to only school board "consent" at the next "regular" meeting.

Don't debate right now, how this might or might not work.
It doesn't make a whit of difference whether it can or can't if we don't even try.

All you have to do is insist.

The terms of public in-servitude are the prerogative of the people; not of their politicians and public servants.

All you have to do is insist!

Open letter to Albuquerque Tea Party Members

I am disappointed that I will not be able to attend your General Meeting.  Regrettably the timing conflicts with the School Board Candidate Forum being held in APS' central office.

I've been invited to write to you, so I will.

Whatever is your interest in the Albuquerque Public Schools, it is one of a number of interests who also want and deserve the close attention of the school board and superintendent; politicians and public servants.

Each of you has the inalienable right to sit at the table when your interests are being decided.

I propose those rights be honored by creating community member seats on the APS District and Community Relations Committee.

• The board has a code of ethics.  The fourth requires them to establish open and honest two-way communication with the communities and community members they serve.

• There is precedent.  The APS Audit Committee has community seats and they participate as full members of the committee. 

They honor that ethic currently, by providing to the people;

• two minutes every two weeks and 
• you are not allowed to ask questions. 

Seriously?

The terms of public in-servitude are the prerogative of the people, not of politicians and public servants.  We tell them what to do, not the other way around.

The ironically but soon aptly named District and Community Relations Committee will become the venue for open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve.

If elected I will carry a motion that will create community member seats on the committee, to be shared according to their will.

Stake and interest holders will participate meaningfully; they will vote with board members in the committee meeting.  Only elected school board members will vote in a "regular" board meeting, adopting or not, the decision made by the sub-committee.

It is important to realize that there will be a seat for nobody until there is a seat for everybody.

No group or coalition of groups is ever going to be powerful enough to make the school board pay close attention if they don't want to.

You have to fight as hard for seats everybody, as you are willing to fight for your own seat.

Once we have a seat, we can;

• clean out a rats nest, or

• or assure ourselves by impartial independent examination and review, that a rats nest doesn't exist; that there is in fact, honest actual accountability to standards of conduct and competence that are high enough to protect the peoples interests in their public schools.

Based upon the findings on executive and administrative ethics, standards and accountability, we must create

transparent accountability to meaningful standards 
of conduct and competence 

for school board members, superintendents and senior administrators.

Before we can expect students to embrace honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct, someone is going to have to show them what it looks like.  Leadership begins at the very top and by personal example.

Ending the ethics, standards and accountability crisis in the leadership of the APS must be the first priority.  The incoming superintendent must be hired with the purpose of ending the crisis and not with covering it up. 

What ever is your agenda, I insist;

• there is not a single legitimate agenda that doesn't move forward on the day that stake and interest holders take their seat at the table in the leadership of the APS. and there is open and honest public discussion of important issues. And

• there is no legitimate agenda that does not move forward on the day politicians and public servants find themselves honestly and actually accountable to the people and to meaningful standards of conduct and competence within their public service.

If you want a seat at the table where your interests are being decided, all you have to do is take it.  Make your board honor your seat.

I'm willing to kick down the door*, but I can't be the only one charging through.  It just makes me look stupid or crazy.

*note to Marty Esquivel and APS's  many lawyers; I am not really threatening to kick down a door. I am writing metaphorically.  I never have, am not now kicking, and I never, ever intend to actually kick down any door any where.

As much as we need the one who goes first into the breach, we need more; the second and the third and the fourth.

People, I don't want you money.
I don't want you to make phone calls or
knock on strangers' doors.

All I want you to do, is to make an issue of;

1. Your right to a seat at APS Community Roundtables at District and Community Relations Committee meetings. and of
2. an independent examination and review of the Ethics, standards and accountability crisis in the leadership of the APS.

Don't let them move an inch on hiring a superintendent until the findings of that review are solidly in your hands.




photo Mark Bralley


People who wait for the perfect circumstances to act,
find only a reason to not act ever.

Everybody says someone should do something
when what they really mean is somebody else
should do something.

Sacrifice is the currency of commitment.
How committed are you to taking your seat at the table?
How committed are you to honest accountability to higher standards of conduct and competence for politicians and public servants in the leadership of the APS?

I'm wondering if you should adjourn your meeting, or a contingent therefrom, to attend and participate meaningfully in the most politically important forum there likely will be in the school board election.

Do you really think you are picking the next superintendent?

Do you really believe that the top ten attributes you "input" moves the needle* one iota? *"Makes a significant difference. This would be referring to the needle of a measurement instrument; moving the needle would be really showing up on the measurement scale"

Do you honestly believe your hand is on the tiller?

In the Journal yesterday, link, we read about the spanner being tossed into the works.

The board would like stand on the brakes.  Suddenly, they'd like to add another year to the process.

After all of their "help select the next superintendent" public relations effort before the election, afterward, the urgency will simply disappear.

Marty Esquivel, the only
one of them who cannot
be held accountable in
February, was the one to
float their intention in our
punch bowl.

He/they would like to give Brad Winter another year to “stabilize” the district.

Between you and me, Winter hasn’t figured out yet, a way to completely cover up felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators. And, their cover up of that cover up.

Apparently, they are having trouble finding anyone willing to take over a cover up whose wheels are falling off and is on fire.

Compare and contrast that with your ten most favorite attributes for the next superintendent do the math.

“I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get him to stay a little longer and push this out a little bit,” Esquivel said.

The difference between the perpetrator and the victim is,
every day the perpetrator doesn’t lose; they win.
Every day the victim doesn’t win, they lose.
Delay always works to the perpetrators advantage. Always

Justice delayed is justice denied.William Gladstone 1842 Always

Esquivel’s and their need to postpone the inevitable is being enabled by their squandering of our trust and treasure, and by the ongoing complicity of “the press”.

Can anyone explain or defend the establishment media's lack of interest in the lack of interest in the school board election?

Forget for the moment their sacred obligation to engender interest by reporting the truth.  How is the lack of interest itself, not newsworthy?




photos Mark Bralley

APS Candidate Forum rules

The APS School Board welcomes candidates to the APS Candidate Forum it will host next Tuesday, January 20, 2015.

It will be moderated by the League of Women Voters. 
The forum will be broadcast live on KANW 89.1 FM and 
also streamed live on KANW.com and APS.edu.

(The)... event will give students, parents, families, staff and community members an opportunity to hear your ideas and thoughts on issues. Here are some details about the forum:

1. Attendees from the community will provide the questions by writing them on cards and submitting them to the League of Women Voters volunteers.
2. Similar questions from attendees will be combined by the League of Women Voters.
3. There will be approximately ten questions asked over the course of the evening.
4. Depending on the complexity of the question, each candidate will have one minute or less to answer each question. The moderator from the League will tell you how much time you have for each question.
5. All candidates will be asked the same ten questions.
6. Each candidate will have one minute to give an opening statement.
7. Candidates within each district will draw lots prior to the forum to determine the order of response.
8. Candidates who arrive after 5:30 p.m. will not be allowed to participate in the forum.

Most people will arrive at the meeting believing that they are going to get to ask questions.  A careful reading of rules 1 and 2 reveals that is not the case.  Your question will be filtered through their standardization process.

Candidates are not going to be asked;

If elected, will you support community Roundtables at District and Community Relations committee meetings?

Unless a whole bunch of people get together to ask the very same question;

If elected, will you support community Roundtables at District and Community Relations committee meetings?

Make sure that when the League of Women Voters "combine" your questions into one, it reads;

If elected, will you support community Roundtables at District and Community Relations committee meetings?

APS district and Community Communication Roundtables.

If roundtables, link, are a bad idea, someone ought to be able to explain why they are a bad idea.

Why are community roundtable discussions not "in the best interests of students"? And constituent communities and community members?

Let's make a list* of all of the good and ethical reasons that the District and Community Relations committee meetings should not include roundtable discussions.

*Not for the list; any issues that will be settled in the first meetings; meetings where decisions will made with regard to how decisions will be made.  For example; the actual number of seats; the role of the facilitator, and the impact of the decisions that the committee will be making.

Let the listing begin;

1.

Comment on "About last night"

Someone has left an anonymous comment on my post About last night.

S/he expects me apparently, post a largely ad hominem attack.  I have neither an obligation nor any intention to post it in its entirety.  I will defend my position on a couple of points hidden in the attack.

S/he claims I don't understand FUE; that;

FUE is a group of people who are not interested in power.

The argument is self-evident nonsense.  How can someone who suffers because they haven't enough power to successfully defend their interests, have no interest in power?

It would be like a football team with no interest in having the ball.  It doesn't make sense.

"FUE has tirelessly fought for a seat at the table in a professional and constructive manner and our success can be measured by the APS K.01 Family and Community Engagement Policy."

However tirelessly they have fought, APS K.01 Family and Community Engagement Policy, link, does not actually provide any seat, at any table, any where.

Albuquerque Public Schools affirms that the involvement of family and community partners is critical to student success. To better engage our families and community partners, Albuquerque Public Schools shall strive to utilize the histories and cultures of our families, community and students as the foundation of an educational program that ensures every student is eager to be a world-class citizen. Collaborative decision-making processes shall be incorporated in appropriate district actions to improve student outcomes.

Albuquerque Public Schools shall strive to actively build partnerships with families and the community by:

Fostering safe and welcoming environments
Strengthening relationships and capacity with families, teachers, school and district administrators and community partners
Expanding communication between families, community partners and schools
Cultivating equitable and effective systems

Point to the place where it creates an honest to God seat at any table any where.  Claiming, "Collaborative decision-making process shall be incorporated in appropriate district actions" did not create an actual venue.  If it had, FUE and other marginalized stake and interest holders would not still feel left out of the decision making process.  It would not still be an issue in the election.

The revised policy that the commenter claims she helped write and which "improved" the situation, actual struck down more powerful language than it provided.  The policy used to read;

The Board of Education recognizes that constructive study, discussion, and active participation by citizens is necessary to promote the best program of education in the community. To encourage this participation, the Board enacts the following policies.

Citizens Advisory Councils will exist to provide for greater community involvement in the educational planning process.The parents/citizens selected as members of committees should collectively be representative of the entire community and its varying viewpoints.

Tell me anonymous, when and where those Advisory Councils met and played host to open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve.

Other than raising two points; anonymous had nothing to contribute to the civil discussion of this important issue.

Not to mention; the board recently passed a new policy on public participation in "their" meetings. The policy, link, and the Procedural Directive it promulgated, link, subject any objective reading, further restrict participant's free exercise of Constitutionally protected human rights to free speech and to petition their government.

I suspect the anonymous commenter is actually a school board member with a history of unfiltered commenting in social media.  A member who if asked, will not stand in support of roundtable discussions as an integral part of District and Community Relations committee meetings.

She's not alone.  Not one of them will.

Do have a date on your calendar, on which you plan to sit down and begin open and honest public
discussion of your important issues, with the leadership of the APS?  Could you set one?

If you don't, if you can't, and unless you have no issues at all with the leadership of the APS,
you have no seat at the table.

If you have to ask permission to sit at the table
you have no seat at the table.

When the question is,

do you and yours have seats at the  table?

Any answer except yes, means no.

Other candidates have choices;

1. they can endorse monthly roundtable communication between the leadership of the APS and the communities and community members they serve. or
2. they can explain why regular, open and honest two-way communication is not in the best interests of students, or
3. they can chose to not respond, or
4. they can not respond for some other reason that I cannot imagine and has yet to be articulated.

It's their choice, whether to engage in two-way communication with the communities and community members they serve, or not.

You need to make them declare their intention.
Don't vote for them if they won't.

They pick a side,
when they don't pick a side.

About last night ...

I am frustrated.  I see before me more than a hundred people with essentially one thing in mind; the want and want for power.

They believe, I think, that power will get them what they really need, but may not really want; a seat at the table where their interests are being decided upon.  The appearance is that they would rather have power than seats.

If power is what earns you a seat at the table,
then power is what wins at the table;
might makes right.  Be careful what you wish for.

Might makes right, wikilink, is a decision making model
as indefensible as it is unjust and disrespectful.

There are other decision making models; better ones.
I don't know of a better one than a "roundtable".

Imagine a round table, literally.
Surrounding it;

• a workable number* of indistinguishable seats.  *the number and the decisions regarding how decisions will be made, will be the subject of the first meeting.
• a seat for a facilitator and scribe whose responsibility it will be to keep discussions efficient and just.
• the leadership, of for example the Albuquerque Public Schools; the school board and senior administration.  In any case, people who are powerful enough to say yes.
• stake and interest holders in number up to the workable limit.
• those there agree on a specific topic to discuss and debate. 
• Each seat holder is given equal right to participate

If you want to have an APS Community Round Table,
all you have to do is establish one.

All you have to do to establish one is to insist that the APS Board of Education make roundtables part of the agenda at District and Community Relations Committee meetings every month.

All you have to do make your servants on the board pass a motion to create roundtables, is to overcome the resistance of board members who do not want to sit at roundtables.  There are more than you would think.  No sitting board member is fighting for public participation in school board meetings.  Quite the opposite; to the tune of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of operational dollars.


You have an opportunity to elect a school board member dedicated to a seat for you at the table.
You have an opportunity to elect a school board member with a decades long record of walking the talk about stakeholder rights.

If you elect me, I will fight relentlessly for your seat at the table.  You have my word.

Who else will?

Not one candidate as far as I know, has endorsed the idea of roundtable discussions of important issues.  Not one of them is really willing to let you put your hands on the steering wheel.

Powerful people tend to avoid situations where their power does not protect them.  They use their power to avoid having to answer awkward questions about the public interests and their public service.

When the question is;

Will you provide for us, a seat at the table 
where our interests are being decided?

Any answer except yes means no.

Stonewalling means no.

Pretending they didn't hear the question
means no.

If you have to have permission to sit;
you don't have a seat; not really.

Do you really want a seat?

What are you going to do about it?
Sacrifice is the currency of commitment.
What are you willing to do, really, for your part
in the fight for your seat at the table?




photo Mark Bralley

Truancy; APS' plan

In any model that requires students to be in school everyday, truancy is a big issue.

Not only do truants miss that day's learning; they are expected to continue at the same pace as if they had been there and learned it all.

It may resonate as punishment fitting crime, but the truth is; those kids just keep falling further and further behind until they finally drop out of school altogether.

If school were fun and interesting, there would be no truancy to speak of.

Standing in opposition to addressing truancy by making school fun and interesting as it can be prudently made, those who argue;

• school wasn't fun when I went, why should it be fun now?

• it's good for kids to suffer through things they don't want to do.  It toughens them up.

Other than that, there really is no good reason that learning could not be made as fun and interesting as it can be made without losing sight of the mission.

The current mission;
standardize the individual performance among groups of kids with almost nothing in common but their age and the school they attend.  This by forming them into thought choirs; thinking and learning in unison; each on the same page in the same book on the same day preparing to take the same test at the same time.

I propose a new mission;  
Create individual lifelong learners at the earliest opportunity.

Allow them to learn as fast as they can or as slowly as they need.  Test them when it serves their interests instead of serving the interests of people who sell standardized tests, testing and textbooks.

APS' solution to truancy; link; conduct a bunch of exercises designed to make participants feel like they have participated meaningfully in decision making.  In fact, their "input will be gathered" and they will make no decisions at all.  The decision making needle will not move unless they hear something they didn't know already and happen to agree with it.

After they decide, they will announce what they have decided, and they will thank all participants for their invaluable input.

They will not decide to move away from cemetery seating, standardized tests and testing, and their over reliance on textbooks that students cannot read well enough to use.

Cheating in ethics class

In the WSJ, link, a report on 60 students cheating in a college sports ethics class.

They arrived at the class unprepared or unwilling to behave ethically; hold themselves accountable to higher standards of conduct.

After more than a dozen years in public schools, they had not learned that their integrity is the most important thing they own and that it is the only thing they will ever own that cannot be taken away from them.  It has to be given away.  They made a bad choice; out of ignorance or out of a deliberate decision to live outside the rules, they traded their integrity for a chance to ditch class.

Currently, there is no character education going on in Albuquerque Public Schools.  By that I mean, no concerted effort.  There are a number of teachers and principals who by their personal example, are teaching kids about their character.

The school board and senior administrative "leadership" steadfastly refuse to defend, deny, or even acknowledge their abandonment of character education for students, and their abandonment of their duties as role models of the standards they establish and enforce upon students. 

They will not defend their decision to strike the role modeling clause* from their own standards of conduct.  They will not discuss in public, their refusal to put it back.   
*In no case shall the standards of conduct for adults 
be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

There are right now, two sets of standards in the APS. 
For adults, there is the law, and cost is no object litigation to provide for them; exception to the law and the opportunity to admit no guilt.  The law; the standards of conduct than every higher standard is higher than. 

For students; there are the Pillars of Character Counts!, link; a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct.

The Journal and the rest of the establishment media steadfastly refuse to investigate and report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

Even in the face of an election that could end the scandal
at once and for all.

Families United for Education APS Board Candidate Town Hall 2015

Families United for Education is sponsoring a "town hall" meeting around the APS School Board election, link.

The families who united,
united for a reason.

At some point, they must have asked the leadership of the APS;

Can we sit and talk?  Is there some place where we can sit down and talk openly and honestly about the issues that are important to us?

The School Board's response meant no.

So they "united" in the hope that were there enough of them, the board would relent and offer them a seat at the table where decisions are made.

The School Board's response means no.

The FUE, ATF, SWOP, OLE, PTEC and PTA and Interfaith are in the same boat; all struggling to form coalitions powerful enough to get the school board's attention.

The playing field is not level; there is no coalition powerful enough to level it.  Especially from the outside.

The largest and most powerful influence group of all ; the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, does not have a seat at the table.  Why in the world would anybody else expect to be given one?

When the question is;

Do I have a seat at the table?

any answer except yes means no.

__________________________________

Currently, the APS School Board Audit Committee has a couple of community members who sit as members of the committee.  The board often leaves the seats empty, but the seats are there.  When and if they are there, the community members participate as equals at the table; none more powerful than another.

Families United for Education could have a seat at the table.

Every stake and interest holder  group could have a seat at the table.

All they have to do is;

Convince the board to have round table discussions at their District and Community Relations Committee every month.

I wrote "convince"; I meant insist.

The terms of service on the APS  School Board are the prerogative of the people; not of school board members.  They don't tell us how our input will be limited; we tell them how our input will be addressed.

It is up to the people to elect school board members who really want community members to have a seat at the table.

It is up to the people to elect school board members who will fight for their seat against an enormous oligarchy; a bunch of good ol' boys and girls, bent on holding on to the power they have usurped.

It is up to the people to elect school board members who will obey the fourth in their own Code of Ethics;

establish open and honest two-way communication with communities and community members.

As far as I have heard, read or know; no other candidate in any district has expressed their support for regular, open and honest two-way communication between the school board and the community members they serve.

No one has proposed "round table" discussions at District and Community Relations committee meetings.  Nor in any other venue.

The candidates could be asked during the town hall tonight;

Are you willing to point to a time a day and a place where stake and interest holders will join board members and senior administrators in open and honest two-way communication of legitimate issues?

Instead, we are to be asked;

1. If elected, how would you strengthen relationships and capacity with families, teachers, school and district administrators, and community partners?
2. If elected, how would you create safe and welcoming environments that honor the various cultures of students and families?
3. If elected, how would you expand communication with families, community partners and schools in a culturally and linguistically responsive way?
4. If elected, how would you cultivate equitable systems?

and

Yes or no; If elected, would you attend an anti-racism training?

Yes or no; If elected, would you attend the next FUE meeting to learn how we can partner?

According to "the rules";

... Yes or No Questions will not have opportunity for further elaboration

I am offended by the hamfisted and unnecessary disrespect for anything I might want to say.

Had I opportunity for input, I would be happy to answer their questions candidly, forthrightly and honestly.  I don't; I will right now.

If elected, would you attend an anti-racism training?

If the tone of the training is going to reflect the same disrespect for my input as "the rules" do; probably not.

It is fair to point out; there is no training they could offer that would further strengthen my resolve and commitment to fight for them, for their seat at the table where decisions are made that affect their interests.

If elected, would you attend the next FUE meeting to learn how we can partner?

I would be happy to attend a meeting just to meet them.
If I spoke, I would disappoint them.
I am convinced that any meeting whose objective is;

to find a way to gather together enough partners that the APS school board will finally have to sit down and talk to them,

is a waste of their time.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but

• there are not enough partners,

• there have never been enough partners, and

• there will never be enough partners to make the school board participate in two-way communication against their will.

It simply is not going to happen.  Recently, the board cut off the president of the teachers union during public forum, link. midway through her remarks.  They are not impressed by any amount of power less than their own.

As a school board member,
I will try to not do things
that are a complete waste of time.

I would rather spend time, our time,
sitting at a round table engaged in
open and honest discussion in a
collaborative effort to solve the
problems we simply must solve.




photo Mark Bralley

In 50 words or fewer; APS - what's wrong; how do we fix it?

My responses to the Journal's questionnaire;

1. Do you agree with the APS board’s refusal to make public the results of an attorney’s investigation into former superintendent Winston Brooks, which ultimately led to his resignation and to APS paying him $350,000 to buy out his contract? Why or why not?

I do not. 

The very worst thing any public servant can do is anything they do in unnecessary secret from the people.

There is only one reason to hide the truth; escaping the consequences of the truth becoming known.
They are hiding the truth because the law allows them to.

2. Do you support legislation that would require retention of third-graders who couldn’t read at grade level coupled with intense early literacy intervention? Why?

Reading is not the only way to learn. It isn’t even the best way.
Children can in learn other ways; watching, listening and doing.
They can make progress in every other subject while they learn to read. Maybe it will excite them enough to make them really want to read.

3. Should APS administrators be allowed to take paid political leave to serve in the Legislature? Should teachers be allowed to take paid political leave to serve?

If we are going to have a citizen legislature, then any citizen ought to be able to serve, not just the wealthy. We must make absolutely certain that the quality of their long term substitute teacher is up to standards.
I would elaborate, but my 50 words are running…

4. What percentage, if any, of a teacher’s evaluation should be based on student test scores and why?

Teachers should be evaluated by every practical means, the results compiled and considered in toto.
Standardized test scores if anything, measure only teachers’ ability to standardize individual performances in a group of children with little more in common than their age and the school they attend. Is that…

5. If elected what would be your top priorities?

1.Create open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve.
2.Move decision making power and resources into schools and classrooms.
3.Create honest and actual accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence for politicians and public servants in the public schools.

6. What qualities, key policy positions and previous work experience are you looking for in a new superintendent?

The new superintendent must be able to create synergies among the people in the district who have the education, expertise and experience to solve problems. Teachers for example, have between them nearly 100,000 years of teaching experience and no seat at the table where the plans are being drawn to…

7. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy hearing?

No

8. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain.

Yes. By way of explanation I will offer this; politicians and public servants are entitled to private lives. They enjoy the same Constitutionally protected human right to privacy as anyone else.  The Journal has no warrant and running for the board doesn’t create one. See lengthier response at http://ched-macquigg.blogspot.com/2014/12/public-servants-and-private-lives.html

Age: 64

Education: Master’s Degree plus 45 hours

Occupation: retired teacher,

Family: yes

Political/government Experience: political pamphleteer and activist

Major professional accomplishment: public school teacher for 25 years

Major personal accomplishment: My blog Diogenes’ Six; http://ched-macquigg.blogspot.com/




photo Mark Bralley

Journal School Board Candidate Questionnaire

Journal Education Reporter Jon Swedien has released the Journal's School Board Candidate Questionnaire.

1. Do you agree with the APS board’s refusal to make public the results of an attorney’s investigation into former superintendent Winston Brooks, which ultimately led to his resignation and to APS paying him $350,000 to buy out his contract? Why or why not?

2. Do you support legislation that would require retention of third-graders who couldn’t read at grade level coupled with intense early literacy intervention? Why?

3. Should APS administrators be allowed to take paid political leave to serve in the Legislature? Should teachers be allowed to take paid political leave to serve?

4. What percentage, if any, of a teacher’s evaluation should be based on student test scores and why?

5. If elected what would be your top priorities?

6. What qualities, key policy positions and previous work experience are you looking for in a new superintendent?

7. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy hearing?

8. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain.
Age:

Education:

Occupation:

Family:

Political/government Experience:

Major professional accomplishment:

Major personal accomplishment:

As I predicted, the Journal has decided again to compel candidates to limit their answers to 50 words or fewer.

Let's see if 50 words are enough;
1.

I do not agree with the secrecy surrounding the dismissal of Winston Brooks.

The people have a right to know the truth about the spending of their resources and the wielding of their power. That right is legitimately limited only by the law.

The board went beyond withholding what the law "requires" and instead withheld all of the truth the law "allows". They did so to spare themselves embarrassment, not because it was in the best interests of anybody but themselves.

My answer; about 80 words. Which 30 should I strike?

The answer is none.

What legitimate interest is met by the Journal limiting answers?

The answer is none.

2.

The rationale for retaining non-reading third graders rests on an argument that "rhymes". Students must "learn to read" (by third grade) because there after they must "read to learn". Clever phraseology but unsupported by truth.

However important reading is, it isn't the only way to learn. That non-readers can learn to read is proof that non-readers can learn without being able to read.

Why hold a student back in mathematics, science, and every other subject while they continue to learn to read? One could argue that their interest in other subjects would serve to motivate them to learn to read.

My answer nearly 90 words. Which 40 should I strike?

The answer is none.

Though there is some improvement, the Journal only gave us 35 words in the 2011 race, 50 words are still not enough.

Asking a question and restricting the answers is a way of not asking the questions at all.

Asking questions about relatively unimportant issues, is a way of not asking more important questions. The personal lives of candidates are the business of stake and interest holders in the candidates personal lives. Politicians and public servants have a Constitutionally protected human right to privacy - running for office does not create the warrant that is required to invade their privacy, link.

The Journal's sacred obligation is to inform the democracy. That is what "the press" is supposed to do. Instead, they are doing everything they can to limit the discourse. Why, and in whose interests?

1. Is willing to listen to input, but is a decision maker

So reads the first item in the Albuquerque Public Schools 33 Qualities Survey.

1. Is willing to listen to input, but is a decision maker

It is important (to the board) that the superintendent needs to be a decision maker - but only if they're willing to "listen" to stake and interest holders.

When a decision needs to be made, a reasonably well informed superintendent will enter decision making with their mind made up already - based on the input they have been given already.

Additional input may or may not change their decision. There is no aspect of the decision making process that guarantees that input of any kind from anybody or group, has the capacity to actually "move the needle" that represents the decision.

"Listening" is a one way street. One can "listen" without interest or caring. One can listen without be moved by what they are listening to.

The paradigm is further reinforced by the premise that the superintendent is THE decision maker.

Being THE decision maker allows the superintendent to micromanage the district. Hiring a superintendent who micromanages the district will allow the school board to micromanage both the superintendent and the district.

There is another model for decision making.
The authority to make decisions can be delegated.

Stake and interest holder input can be respected by allowing their meaningful participation in decision making. There is no more meaningful form of participation in decision making than being one of the decision makers.

APS Supt Winston Brooks' greatest success, however misguided, was his and the board's effort to end collaborative decision with stake and interest holders by consolidating all decision making power in his and a few others' hands.

The number one quality in a leader is the readiness and ability to delegate decision making power to decision making at the lowest possible level.

That is how you involve stake and interest holders.
That is how you respect and honor their input.

APS Superintendent search; community input

The APS School Board is offering stake and interest holders "input" in hiring the next superintendent. Or are they?  It depends on the meaning of the word "input".

The APS School Board knows already, what, maybe even who, they are looking for in their new superintendent. How could they not?

What they are offering stake and interest holders is
an opportunity to change their mind.

They are offering in limiting circumstances,
nothing more than an opportunity to change their mind
by telling them about something they don't already know and can agree with.

Decision making according to any higher standards requires that the needle move in proportion to opposing input.

What if during this entire process their needle never moves one bit?

They, powerful people, do what they were going to do anyway, always.  It is among the accoutrements of power.

Their loosely worded promise is as meaningless as it is utterly unenforceable.

Their own Code of Ethics is unenforceable.

The school board will do exactly what they were going to do all along.  When they do, they are going to do it in meetings in secret*.

*They will adjourn from any real oversight into closed meetings.  The meetings will not recorded by their own deliberate decision.

While some things must be discussed in secret from public knowledge, a great deal of things are being discussed in secret that should not be discussed in secret.

The very worst thing any public servant can do ever
is anything they do in unnecessary secret from
the people whose power they are wielding and
whose resources they are spending.

They will be discussed in secret not in the best interests of students according to their first School Board Ethic, but in their own; to avoid the consequences of having them discussed in public.

They will come out of the meetings in secret;  and
thank all the marginalized stake and interest holders
for their invaluable input.

Then they will announce that they have hired whomever
they intended to hire all along;
someone who will help them cover up the cover up
of the ethics, standards and accountability scandal
in the leadership of the APS.

Where will all the marginalized groups file their complaint?
... with the same people who are ignoring them?
In the next election maybe.

The question of input is simple;

When your interests are being decided,
do you have a seat at the table?

Any answer except yes, means no.

If you don't have (at least a representative seat) your Constitutionally protected human right to sit or be represented at that table is being ignored by the government; the school board and their superintendent.

Will there be Round Table discussions of important issues?

The School Board Code of Ethics requires them;

to establish two-way communication

They have not.  They have outlawed it.

A seat at the table for everybody, or seats only for the most powerful?

Open and honest two-way communication.
There is no equivalent gesture.  Nothing else will do.

A seat at the table; yours for the taking

I would encourage your rebellion.

Take APS' survey, link.

Role model please, APS' student standards of conduct which require respect and responsibility.

But at every opportunity; insist that the new superintendent be expected to open two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the communities and community members they serve.

Insist. Again and again and again.

Marginalized stake and interest holders have a right to the undivided attention of the school board and or senior administration for at least one hour each month.

One hour a month may not sound like much, but
it's an hour more than they have now.

If one hour is not enough, they can use their one hour
to petition for two.

The simple truth is, there is no coalition of marginalized stake and interest holders who will ever be powerful enough to compel the board to do anything more than "listen".  A good faith response is not part of the deal.

A good faith response has never been part of the deal, it is not now part of the deal and it never will be part of the deal, unless and until a motion is passed and enforced reading;

Motion;

to create and wholeheartedly support Executive and Administrative Round Table Communication between the leadership of the APS and the communities and community members they serve.

Where as;

the fourth ethic in the School Board's Code of Ethics requires the establishment of open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community; and

Where as

there is now none such

Be It Resolved;

• District and Community Relations Committee meetings will include both Executive and Administrative Round Table discussions with representative stake and interest holders.

• Round Table discussions will be impartially and professionally facilitated.

• Senior executive and administrative leaders will engage and participate in good faith in open and honest public discussions of the public interests and of their public service.

photo Mark Bralley

the difference between stake and interest holders is

Interest holders think school cafeterias should offer only healthy alternatives.

Stakeholders eat carrots and celery for lunch.

Both have a seat at the table where lunch menus are decided.

APS Community Round Tables

In a meeting this afternoon, I promised Albuquerque Interfaith, link, a seat at the table where decisions are made that affect their interests.

I have offered them a new format for APS School Board District and Community Relations committee meetings.

I have offered them a new mission statement for the APS D&CR; each meeting will be a round table discussion featuring open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve.

• Round table ... Participants agree on a specific topic to discuss and debate. Each person is given equal right to participate, as illustrated by idea of a circular layout referred to in the term round table, wikilink.

I propose;

• once each month the District and Community Relations Committee and senior administration will meet in a different high school auditorium at a time convenient to stake and interest holders.

1. During an executive round table; the board would be seated with representative stake and interest holders in policy decision making.  
2. During an administrative round table; the administrative leadership team would be seated with representative stake and interest holders in administrative procedural directive implementation.

• The discussions will be impartially facilitated

• The goal of the discussion will be to arrive at consensus or determination based on the common understanding of interests and issues; a decision will be made to support or oppose 

1. a policy change in the case of an executive round table, or 
2. an administrative procedural directive change following an administrative round table.

• The decisions of the round tables are subject to a vote by the school board and or the acceptance by the superintendent for the administration.

You have an opportunity to participate meaningfully in decision making that affects your interests.

You have an opportunity to regain control over the wielding of power and the spending of resources that belong  fundamentally to you; the people.

All you have to do is elect a school board who really wants to engage in open and honest two-way communication between them and the community members they serve.

All you have to do is elect a school board that wants you to know the truth.




photo Mark Bralley

Journal editors easily impressed

In the Journal this morning, link, the editors are wowed by Brad Winter's Academic Master Plan.

I get that as Journalists it is important for them to rhyme
master plan and masterstroke.

Nevertheless, masterstroke is an enormously powerful word.
It means;

an action which demonstrated great skill
an outstandingly skillful and opportune act
a very clever move.

The reform proposed by Winter and the lame-duck board, and which so wows the Journal amounts to;

• plan ahead and

• continuously evaluate performance

Don't get me wrong.  I cannot imagine a more important reform in the leadership of the APS than for them to finally begin to;

• plan ahead and

• continuously evaluate performance

That they have come up with
their masterstroke of a plan
well into the second century
of their endeavor, is more than
a little unsettling.

I submit the Journal editorial
as evidence of the Journal's
aide and abet in support of
the status quo in the leadership
of the APS and of their willingness to do anything to manipulate the discourse.

They write;

There’s nothing like having a fresh set of eyes focus on a challenge.

Seriously?  Brad Winter; fresh eyes?! A member of the inner most circle knew nothing about the profound lack of planning and accountability in the effort to achieve the district's primary mission?

Right, and a pint of Häagen-Dazs serves four.

For years Winter oversaw APS’ capital program.

If Winter is proud of his spending in their castle keep, why won't he show us
his record?  Did he really spent $800 dollars a piece on chairs for board members?
Why won't he produce a candid, forthright, and honest accounting of the money
he spent there?  Is it to avoid the accolades or to escape the consequences?

For as many years as Winter over saw APS' capital program, he has been refusing to be honest with stake and interest holders about the resources he committed to sprucing up their apartments in the sky at 6400 Uptown Blvd.

If Kent Walz and the Journal really believe Brad Winter has been an outstanding steward of our trust and treasure, why don't they insist upon publishing his record on his behalf?

When it was still reporting on corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS, the Journal actually reported, link, Winter was $500K over budget in his renovation of their utterly unjustifiable million dollar board room.

The corruption ridden leadership
of APS' publicly funded private
police force was a direct report
to Winter.  Winter enabled it.

For years

... he worked for policies designed to bring accountability and transparency to that endeavor

For years, Winter has been part and parcel of a cover up of corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS Police force.

For years, Winter has refused to produce ethically redacted records of investigations of allegations of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators.

Winter says that the plan and program evaluations should justify the money spent on programs, and those that don’t produce results should be scrapped.

Wow! Winter really is a genius!

While Winter plans to leave APS after the district hires a new permanent superintendent, his academic plan promises to give his successor a better place to start.

"His successor" will not participate meaningfully in the decision making of the policy s/he will administer.  Nor will new school board members.  Nor will community members or any other stake or interest holder.

"These aren't the droids
you're looking for." unk

Journal Editor in Chief Kent Walz would have us just move along.

Don't trust the Journal.

Don't trust anyone who does not stand on the record in support of your meaningful participation in decision making that affects your interests.  Don't trust them or their good intention to come up with a plan as soon as they are elected.

Don't trust anyone who will not point to the time the day and the place where they will stand and answer legitimate questions about the public interests and about their public service and then
respond candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

When the question is;

do you intend to tell the truth
(about the wielding of public power and
the spending of public resources)
the whole truth and nothing but
the ethically redacted truth?

any answer except yes,
means no.




photos Mark Bralley

APS District and Community Relations Committee Meetings; time for change?

The leadership of the APS spends about a million dollars a year in communication "with" stake and interest holders.

By which they mean in communication "to" stake and interest holders.

There is no real "two-way" communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve.

The fourth in the school board's own code of ethics reads;

Establish an open, two-way communication process with students, staff, families and all segments of the community

One would suppose that two-way communication is part and parcel of a District and Community Relations Committee meeting.  It is not.  Far from it.

Though the meetings have a public forum, the rules of the forum; the Public Participation in Public Meetings Policy and Procedural Directive, forbid asking questions that make school board members feel uncomfortable.

Should one insist; one will be hustled out of the meeting by their publicly funded private police force.

I propose;

• The District and Community Relations Committee will meet in the evening in different communities through out the district.

• The purpose of the meeting would be to create a venue offering open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the communities they serve.

• The discussion would take place around a round table.  All stake and interest holders will have a seat.

• The discussion will be facilitated.  The facilitation will be impartial and expert.

• Stake and interest holders at any distance will have some means to participate meaningfully in any decision making that affects their interests.

I believe civil discourse will produce a shared understanding of the issues.

I believe a shared understanding is fundamental to sound decision making.


The next school board and their superintendent are going to make some important decisions about spending your resources and wielding your power.

Do you want you seat at the table where those decisions are made?

Do you want to participate meaningfully in decision making that affects your interests?

It won't be easy.

Somebody is going to have to do something.




photo Mark Bralley