Some one of the mayoral candidates is going to be the first
candidate to raise their right hand and say;
About my public service,
I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth.
(So help me God.)
Winston Brooks will be addressing stakeholders this evening.
link
The agenda promises that stakeholders will be allowed to ask
questions by means of an "Open mic" format.
By reasonable extension; I am allowed to ask a question
by means of my blog, and a cc.
My question;
Will you tell the truth about administrative and executive
role modeling of the Student Standards of Conduct?
Will Winston Brooks look in the eyes... regain the trust of the community.
Superintendent Brooks,
I would like to ask a question at the forum this evening, and
I would rather not have to ask it by means of the "open mic".
http://ched-macquigg.blogspot.com/2009/04/winston-brookscelebrating-8.html
I am grateful for your time and attention,
ched macquigg
In the Journal this morning, link, Jim Scarantino, looks at
our state motto; crescit eundo, which translates to;
"it grows as it goes".
Scarantino points out that the political corruption surrounding state investments is not new. He outlines corruption cases dating back to the 1980s, and points out that little has changed except the amounts of the payoffs which are now ten times as large as they once were.
Scarantino concludes that our motto makes no sense, except in terms of "political rot".
He has a point.
I have received my last email from the President of the
Character Counts! Leadership Council.
He talked a bunch of smack, and then made nonspecific threats
about what he would do if I emailed him back with any manner
of rebuttal.
He did, however, write two things of interest.
In the first, he claimed to have been in touch with the national
Character Counts! office. He claims that they told him that both
that office and Michael Josephson personally, had told me not
to contact them again (about the massive fraud being perpetrated
using his beloved Character Counts! as its engine.)
Honestly, I have no specific recollection of either the office
or Josephson asking me not to contact them again.
I would not be surprised though. I have been riding them
pretty hard trying to get them to do something in the APS
besides selling them Character Counts! link link
If I had, I would be no more ashamed of it than I am ashamed of any of the other abuses that have been perpetrated upon me by people who don't want to talk about administrative and executive role modeling of the student standards of conduct.
I am unashamed of anything that I have done in my effort to bring standards and accountability to the table for open and honest discussion. I would do it all again, in front of any of my former students.
The second interesting thing that Gonzales wrote; he represented that he had not met Carole Smith.
Carole Smith is the ranking APS administrator of APS' Character Counts! program.
I would be very surprised if she were not a member of the council that the sergeant "leads".
Why, if Gonzales were "researching" an allegation that the leadership of the APS is only pretending to be role models of the student standards of conduct, would he not talk to APS senior administrator of Character Counts!
Bottom line; don't expect to see the President of the
Character Counts! Leadership Council,
Sgt. Joseph Gonzales at a board meeting, insisting
that the leadership of the APS step up as role models of
the Pillars of Character Counts!
There is no such thing as an inconspicuous role model.
If we really want students in the APS to grow up to embrace
character, and courage, and honor,
someone has to show them what character and courage
and honor look like.
Somebody has to stand up some where, some time, and
show students what moral courage looks like.
Somebody has to stand up some where, some time, and
show students what honest accountability to meaningful
standards of conduct and competence, looks like.
Somebody has to stand up some where, some time, and
show students what telling the truth looks like.
"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."
"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)
"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)
"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)
“Example has more followers than reason.”
— Christian Nevell Bovee, American author and lawyer (1820-1904)
"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)
We should not be so worried that our children never listen to us, as we should be worried that they are always watching us.
-Upton Sinclair
I will hold myself honestlyIs there really not a single member of the leadership of the APS
accountable to the Pillars of Character Counts!,
for at least those few hours each day,
when that is my demand of students.
I had contacted him through the Character Counts! website
link that had been furnished me by the NMPED. link
It was the second time that I have communicated with him;
the first was a phone call to a number given me by the APS.
In the first phone call, I asked him to stand up in support of
the APS Student Standards of Conduct; the Pillars of
Character Counts!.
In between the phone call and the email, Sgt. Joseph Gonzales,
did some "research" on me. He reports that members of the
Leadership Council feel as though I am "harassing" them, by
insisting that they step up as leadership of Character Counts!.
He allowed me no opportunity to rebut any of the claims made
about or against me.
He says that having the leadership of the APS step up as
role models of the Pillars of Character Counts! is my agenda.
And further, that the Council will not be pushing my agenda.
As far as I know, he has never attended a board meeting.
He claims not to know whether my claims are legitimate.
I claim the leadership of the APS will not stand up as role
models of the Student Standards of Conduct.
They will not. Case closed.
stand up for what they believe inIf he understood that, he would understand that standing up
even if they are standing alone. link
The APS Policy Committee has revisions to the APS
Student Behavior Handbook on its agenda as a discussion
action item. link
I am always afraid when I find out that the Student Behavior
Handbook is being revised.
It is in that book, where the APS Student Standards of Conduct
are written. It reads;
"... students are expected to model and promoteIn other words; students are expected to actually hold
the Pillars of Character Counts! ..."
"Nothing in the following is intended to prevent a staffIf you think that staff members, or teachers can except
member, teacher, principal or other administrator from
using his/her best judgment with respect to a particular
situation.
("in the following" refers to the entire Handbook)
where the adults are honestly accountable as role models
of the standards that they set for students?
I'm beginning to seriously doubt it.
I would like to find one.
It would be interesting to see how they did it.
This is the week that stakeholders were promised the results
of a school climate survey done two months ago.
A school climate survey is as close as the leadership of the APS
will come to gathering hard data on the conduct and
competence of site level administrators.
A few thing are all but certain;
"... learned from the experience and will nowNo consequence will befall the administrator responsible for
be focused on the future ..."
It was reported by newsman and blogger Peter St. Cyr link,
that PED Secretary Veronica Garcia said that there were a
number of school districts in New Mexico where both adults
and students were accountable to the Pillars of Character Counts!
My repeated requests of her office, to identify those districts
have been ignored.
I don't know why they would be
ignored, except that Garcia was
talking out of her ass,
and doesn't want to admit it.
photo Mark Bralley
update: following the post, I received an email
from the NNPED.
Thank you for your inquiry. The organization that is focused on
the Character Counts! Program can be reached at the following
link: http://www.charactercountsnm.com/contact.php.
The Public Education Department no longer tracks the specific
schools that adopt this program.
I believe the contacts via the link will be able to assist you.
APS Policy Committee Chair
David Peercy says that he wants
to review all APS Policies at once.
On its face, the intention and logic
seem sound. A change in one policy
could have both intended and
unintended effects on other policies.
It seems prudent to examine them
together.
But what if a particular policy change would clearly have an effect on all other policies; what if the change was fundamental? Wouldn't it make sense to iron out that policy statement first? There is a reason that buildings begin with their foundation.
The fundamental change that Peercy is trying to avoid discussing is the standards of conduct that apply not only to the enforcement of other policies, but to the formulation and review of those policies.
When Peercy reviews all other policies, will the review be
a review from a perspective that requires the least from all
other policies; the law, or will it be a review from a perspective
that requires the most from all other policies, ethics.
According to Character Counts! founding
father, Michael Josephson, adherence to
a higher standard than the law;
a code of ethics for example; often requires
more than the law requires,
and less than the law allows.
How can Peercy evaluate policy statements without first
establishing the basic, fundamental, standards against which
policy statements will be evaluated?
What makes Peercy's position so indefensible, is that the
discussion he is trying to avoid, is the one where the leadership
of the APS actually declares the standards against which
policies will be evaluated and under which they will be enforced.
The discussion that he is trying to avoid, is the one where the
leadership of the APS finally admits the truth, that they have
no intention whatsoever of being accountable to any standard
of conduct higher that the lowest standard of conduct that they
can find.
Peercy photo Mark Bralley
Josephson photo from his website
It turns out that there are a lot of third rails, wikilink.
I defy anyone to name an issue in government that is more
important than the issue of standards and accountability.
Davie Peercy's Policy Committee is responsible for district
policy writing. It is the responsibility of that committee to
establish standards and to ensure their enforcement.
David Peercy refuses to conduct an open and honest discussion
of standards and accountability in the leadership of the APS.
It is fair to ask, why?
Why are standards and accountability not on the agenda
for the policy committee meeting tomorrow morning?
Why are standards and accountability not even on the list
of future topics?
Why is there no mention anywhere, of standards and
accountability in the leadership of the APS,
except to hide them from public knowledge?
Is it because the leadership of the APS is proud of their
standards and accountability, or
because they are ashamed?
Is it because the APS has robust standards of conduct and
competence, or because they do not?
Is it because there is honest accountability to meaningful
standards of conduct and competence, or
because there is not?
Is it because anyone in the leadership of the APS can defend
their standards and accountability, or
because they can not?
David Peercy
has point in the
conspiracy to hide
the truth about
(the lack of)
standards and honest
accountability in the
leadership of the APS.
David Peercy says,
no way, will he
allow stakeholders
to learn the truth.
He will get away with it
for as long as we let him.
photo Mark Bralley
APS' Policy and Instruction
Committee meets tomorrow.
David Peercy continues to
refuse to allow the open and
honest discussion of
administrative and executive
role modeling of the student
standards of conduct.
His refusal is based on his belief
that the leadership of the APS
is actually accountable to the law,
and that the law is a higher
standard of conduct than the
student standards of conduct;
a nationally recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethics.
Peercy suffers from at least three boggles;
1. He would have us believe that the leadership of the APS is actually accountable to the law, despite their incontrovertible record of litigating for themselves; exception to the law.
2. He fails to comprehend the dishonorable and dishonest and unethical conduct that even real accountability to the law allows, and
3. He fails to comprehend the honorable, honest and ethical conduct that codes of ethics require.
His position is indefensible by any means except hiding it;
stonewalling.
His actions are
cowardly, unethical, dishonorable, and seemingly, corrupt.And not much different from the actions of the rest of the
cowardly, unethical, dishonorable, and seemingly, corrupt.
This comment was left on a post about APS' decision making
model.
It deserves some attention.
APS' decision making model is; lead stakeholders into believing
that their part in the decision making process is meaningful,
despite the fact that;
There is no good andThe Journal covered a meeting of the Rio Grande High School
Parent Teacher Organization. link. For reasons known only to
Journal editors, the story was reported only in the west side
edition.
The parents are justifiably upset over Winston Brooks'
decision to leave them out of the decision making process.
The method he used is tried and true. Involve parents early
and meaninglessly in the process, and then later in the process
subject their input to unilateral review and approval by the
people who the district wants to make the decision in the first
place. According to the Journal report;
"APS formed three working groups, a committee and a redesign team to come up with the plan. The working groups were one of parents, one of students and another of staff. The committee had a mixture of staff, APS administrators and parents and was responsible for compiling and organizing all the information submitted by the work groups. The redesign — or core team — was responsible for coming up with the draft plan."There were no parents involved in the final step; the only step
"... the core redesign team needed to consist of educationI have not seen the redesign plan. I suspect that you will find
professionals"
"..., teachers would undergo 30 hours of training thisFurther, you will find that there really is no reason that parents
summer. Students would have more choices in the
classes they take and assignments they complete,
teachers would work in teams, and more emphasis
would be placed on school projects."
"King said several parents at the meeting indicatedAPS officials apparently tried to white wash their decision to
they are happy with the plan but frustrated with the process."
Rio Grande parents are angry because they say APS'All in all, another black eye for APS leadership. A black eye
claims about parental involvement in the redesign process
are false.
"I challenge you to show me one parent," (PTO VP)
Rivera said. "One parent who participated at all in this
process."
At least three parents whose names were listed on the
plan as contributors, including Rivera, asked that their
names be removed from the document. David Rogers,
one of those parents, said he attended one of the two
parent meetings that APS said they used to gather input
for the document.
"Nothing that was discussed is in this document," he said.
"There were a lot of concerns voiced about the process.
I did not give APS permission to use my name.
I do not agree with this document.
I want my name taken off this document."
There is a sub committee of the APS Board of Education
called the Audit Committee. According to board policy, link,
the Audit Committee is obligated to;
... review and recommend approval or action(s)
associated with the District’s Annual Audit, any internal
audit(s), audits associated with the Capital Outlay and
Technology, and any whistleblower complaints.
As I have written, Audit Committeethe failure or omission to do something that should be done or esp. something that one is under a duty or obligation to do.Refusing to do one's job to deliberately, in order to deny
the commission (as by a public official) of a wrongful or unlawful act involving or affecting the performance of one's duties.Policy Committee Chair David Peercy says he wants to see
I filed a complaint with the State Auditor, alleging a fraud
attached to the most recent Moss Adams Audit of the APS.
link
It has now been about three months, and I have heard nothing
from the Auditors Office. It has not even been acknowledged
that they have received the complaint.
It is frustrating that apparently, a citizen cannot count on the
government for help when trying to hold public servants
accountable for public corruption.
The agenda for the next policy committee meeting has been
posted on the APS website, link.
I am disappointed, but not surprised to find that the subject of
administrative and executive role modeling of the student
standards of conduct is not only not the agenda for the
next meeting, but it has dropped off the agenda completely;
it is no longer even a future topic.
Policy Committee Chair
David Peercy, has done this,
in my opinion, because he
is a coward, corrupt, or both.
He has declined my invitation to
offer a third reason for denying
an open and honest discussion
of role modeling.
He cannot offer any good and ethical
excuse for his apparently
corrupt and/or cowardly conduct.
He cannot offer one for the simple
reason that there isn't one.
His only response to date;
the current standards of conduct for adults "far exceed" the
standards for students, and he will not be a party to
"lowering" standards of conduct for adults.
What bullshit! The Student Standards of Conduct, require
truth telling; explicitly and expressly. The adult standards
of conduct make no such demand.
To suggest that "truth telling" is a lower standard of conduct
than "not lying" is nonsense; it is completely indefensible.
Because the only defense of an indefensible position is to hide
it, Peercy will hide his nonsensical argument from scrutiny
by denying an open and honest discussion of role modeling.
There is no good and ethical reason to hide the truth
about administrative and executive role modeling of the
student standards of conduct.
It is manifest moral cowardice. It is manifest corruption.
It is as simple as that.
cc David Peercy upon posting.
photo Mark Bralley
