Two weeks to election, full page on "Schools", and still nothing in the Journal,about the school board elections.

Voting has been going on for two weeks, the election will
be over in two more, and still, the Journal has not printed
a single article of substance, to guide voters in their selection.

Shame on the Journal.


In District 5, you have one of the good ol' boys,
Paula Maes, who, during the APS Gradegate scandal, said in defense of Teresa Cordova's efforts to get her son's grade changed, that
... it's alright for a parent to "get in a teachers face once in awhile", and who once boasted that she would never allow any audit that named corrupt or incompetent good ol' boys by name; like "for example; Tom Savage."



Running against her, a fresh face; Renee Louise Rosales, a candidate who did not hesitate one second before pledging accountability to the Student Standard of Conduct, a nationally recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethical conduct, and
a code of conduct which demands accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence; including truth telling.





Over in District 6, we have incumbent Mary Lee Martin who has been on the board for decades; decades that saw one scandal after another with no attention paid to the underlying corruption and incompetence.

Mary Lee Martin was on the school board when Character Counts! was unanimously adopted as the student standard of conduct. Now, if you ask her if she will stand up as a role model of the same standard of conduct, she responds by stonewalling the question.



Her opponent is David Robbins.
Robbins as well, did not hesitate even one second before answering the question about his willingness to stand up as a role model of the student standard of conduct, and his willingness to tell the truth to stakeholders.

Robbins supports an immediate standards and accountability audit of the leadership of the APS.





In District 7,
newcomer Patrick J Marron,
who says that he is ready and willing to step up as a role model of the Student Standard of Conduct, including telling the truth.

Marron is one of the most vocal of the candidates, in his support of an immediate full scale standards and accountability audit of the entire leadership of the APS.







His opponent in District 7,
David Eugene Peercy,
who when asked if he was willing to step up as a role model of the Student Standard of Conduct, muttered something about how I was preaching to him, and turned around and walked away in the middle of our conversation.

Which I take to mean no,
no, he is not willing to be held honestly accountable to a standard of conduct that requires him to tell the truth to stakeholders.






And last, but not least, in District 3,
we have Jeffery C. Rich.

Mr. Rich, says that he will step up as a role model of the Student Standard of Conduct,
and he will tell stakeholders the truth.

Jeffery Rich also has expressed his support of an immediate full scale standards and accountability audit of the leadership of the APS.





Running against Rich, in District 3, are Lorenzo Garcia, Agatha Lopez, and Anna Armijo.

In truth, I have not found the opportunity to ask these candidates face to face, if they are actually willing to step up as role models of a standard of conduct; a standard which requires telling the truth as opposed to the current standard of conduct which requires only, not getting caught telling a lie.

I will ask them, and I will report upon their response.

But the Journal will not ask the questions, nor will they
report upon the responses.


Shame on the Journal.



photos; Mark Bralley

In order to tell the truth, you have to say something.

Truth telling and Stonewalling are as
matter and anti-matter.

They can not exist together.
It is one, or the other.

If standards include telling the truth,
then stonewalling is not allowed.


If the highest standard of conduct is "not to lie",
then it is.


You have to understand that stonewalling means no.

You have to accept that stonewalling means no.

It means the same thing as saying no, out loud.


Especially when the question is;

Do you intend to tell the truth?

The Student Standard of Conduct requires students
to tell the truth.

We teach them that their good character depends on their
telling the truth.

We illustrate the point with a story about George Washington,
and about how he told the truth.

What utter hypocrisy to tell students one thing and then
show them something else entirely.

If this is too high a standard of conduct for public servants,
then it is too high a standard for students.

But this has already been decided and we have made it very
clear that we do not think the Pillars of Character Counts!
is too high a standard of conduct for the 87,000 of our sons
and daughters in the APS.

Nor do we thing that it is too high of a standard of conduct
for board members and administrators.

Telling the truth would be among the standards of conduct
for board members and administrators, except that
they wrote them out.

Accountability for truth telling was removed from their
code of conduct when they removed the phrase;

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

The leadership of the APS are accountable as role models
of the Student Standard of Conduct

whether they like it or not. Whether they accept it or not.

They can not simply write accountability as role models,
out of their own standards of conduct.

We teach students that their good character requires
holding oneself honestly accountable
to a higher standard of conduct than the law.

Every generation expects the next generation
to be the first generation
that actually holds itself honestly accountable
to some meaningful standards of conduct.

If we really want students to grow into adults who embrace
character and courage and honor,
someone has to show them what it looks like.

And that particular kind of leadership starts at the top,
and must be manifest in their personal example.

They think they are too powerful to be held accountable
for their conduct and their competence.

Honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct
and competence,

will have to be thrust upon them against their will,

... or it will not happen at all.

Do you promise to tell the truth?

The whole truth, and nothing but the truth,

(about the public interests, and about your public service)

so help you God?



Why is this question,

which is the same question that you will be asked
before you sit down in a witness chair,

not a legitimate question

to put to public servants during their election,
and during their public service?

"Is time right for ethics reform?"

asks the Journal in its headline this morning? link

Duh! !!


It has been time for ethics reform since the first meeting of
the NM State Legislature in 1912. It still is.

The real question is;

Will enough citizens leave their spheres of comfort and safety,
to go to Santa Fe to DEMAND the reform?

If they don't, then the same question will be asked at this time
next year, and the next year, and the next, ...


One rather immediate question;

Who is going to rally the troops?

Or do we expect them to just wander up there by themselves?
And hope that they will all show up on the same day.


Hint; it is unlikely that the Journal will lead the rally.

Which leaves the bloggers and,
who else, exactly?

Imagine a bucket full of truth

The bucket is full of the whole truth about the APS, or
about any other agency of government
that administers the public trust and treasure.

Look into the bucket. You will find a very small scoop.
Take two scoopfuls of truth out of the bucket;
store them in a safe place.

One scoop represents the truth that the law says should not,
can not, and will not be surrendered to public knowledge.

The other scoopful represents the truth that is excepted
from surrender, for any other good and ethical reason.

Everything left in the bucket belongs to us.

The legally and ethically redacted truth belongs to us.
All of it belongs to us.

The decision making power that they wield is our power.
The money they spend is our money.

The truth about the administration of our power, and
the truth about the administration of our resources,

belongs to us.

The leadership of the APS no more claim to that truth
than any other stakeholder. They have no right to dole
out the truth according to their whim.

The leadership of the APS holds up a standard of conduct
for students. That standard of conduct requires that under
circumstances such as these, the bucket is to be emptied out
on the table, for everyone to see.

We tell them that if they do not tell the truth,
it is at the forfeit of their good character.

The leadership of the APS is modeling far different behavior.
They think the bucket full of truth belongs to them.

If you can prove that you have a right to some small part of it,
they may give it to you. Or they may not.

Because as then APS Superintendent Peter Horoscak
once told me;

You can't just tell the truth;
you don't know how someone might try to use it.

Every problem in the APS has roots in the fact that
they will not let stakeholders look into their bucket.

It is time for them to empty out their bucket.

There is no legitimate agenda in the entire APS,
that does not move forward on the day
that the leadership of the APS tells the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth.

The current leadership of the APS will not tell the truth.

Will the next?

It is a fair question. It is a legitimate question.


Candidates,
will you tell us the legally and ethically redacted truth
about our power and about our resources?

Will you swear that you will tell the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth,

(so help you God)?


Will you create a district policy that requires administrators
to do the same?



Any answer except yes, means no.

Why didn't Gina Hickman squeal?

APS Chief Financial Officer, Gina Hickman used to work in
the department she now heads.

At the time when she worked there, she knew,
or reasonably should have known,
that the spending of more than a billion tax dollars a year,
was being done without standards and accountability
that were adequate to protect the public interest,
according to the recent Meyners + Co. independent audit.

She didn't blow the whistle.

She was promoted in spite of the fact that, she did not
blow the whistle, which would seem to indicate that
no particular importance was placed on her decision
not to blow the whistle.

Either that, or

a great deal of importance was attached to her decision
not to blow the whistle.

Entire APS under state restructuring plan?

I have received the following news tip;

"Our school was told on the Thursday inservice that
APS is now a district under state restructure-1.

Our principal told us this was not news that was
"out there yet", and they wanted to hear it internally first.

What this seems to mean is that an individual school's
compliance with NCLB doesn't determine if they will be
in "safe harbor" or restructured anymore; it means all APS
schools are now under the restructure umbrella, and this
is a secondary step to the State of New Mexico
taking over APS schools."

... could it really happen? Word is that the state doesn't
have a take-over unit in place, doesn't have approved
protocol, and some say the state legislation has not been
presented nor passed for this to occur.

It would explain the urgency of RGHS and EPMS to be
resolved immediately.

Last year, and soon to begin this semester, the state comes into most APS schools and demands a mountain of papers that include EPPS statement, mission statement, department exams w/ results, graphs, charts, etc....

To my knowledge, student discipline, attendance and classroom cleanliness and Character Counts! is not discussed nor documentation requested.

Monica Armenta's mother's name comes up in pay to play investigations

The Journal report is about a search for the names
of contributors to a favorite foundation of
Governor Bill Richardson. link

The Journal is trying to find out who donated money,
and what the money was used for.

The Journal reports;

"Loretta Armenta, president of Qwest New Mexico
and longtime community leader, was listed as
board secretary in the IRS filings.

She told the Journal she doesn't know who contributed.

"I actually got involved when Governor Richardson
(took office) ... the first year and actually have had almost
no interaction."

Armenta said she knew of no board meetings or a
Web site for the foundation."

This all sounds disturbingly like the story about
the APS Character Counts Leadership Council,

a group whose membership is still secret,

who apparently rarely, or never, met,

who applied for a federal grant through Pete Domenici's
office, whose details, including accounting, are still secret,

and who isn't answering any questions about anything,

even questions about their Character Counts! "leadership".

And finally, as the Journal pointed out; Loretta Armenta
is the President of Qwest New Mexico.

Qwest New Mexico recently signed a sweet deal contract
the leadership of the APS. link



The lyrics change, but the melody never does.

Normally, links can be established to pages on the APS website

You have to have more than a little computer savvy to do it,
but it is possible.

However, if you went looking for the address for the page that
contains all of the school board candidate questionnaires, and such,

you will find no address to which a link can be established.



Add to the list of "coincidences" on the APS website,
that work together,
and against transparency.

Journal editors hope for reform in Santa Fe

In one of their most strongly worded and articulate editorials
to date, link, the editors have expressed their hope that 2009
is the year that our representatives in Santa Fe finally do
what voters want them to do with respect to governmental reform.

The editors pointed out that they had hoped for reform in 2005.
And that they had hoped again for reform in 2006.
And that they had hoped even harder for reform in 2007.
And that they had hoped even harder still for reform in 2008.

And for all of their hoping, still no reform.

Not ones to give up on a winning game plan, Journal editors
are hoping harder than ever for reform in 2009.

If only "hoping" had a snowball's chance in hell of actually
bringing about ethical reform in NM's culture of corruption.


The Journal editors have the wherewithal to get a thousand
people to stand together on the roundhouse steps
to demand meaningful reform.

And if that doesn't work, they have the wherewithal to get two
thousand people the next weekend, and four thousand the next,
and eight thousand the next, and ...

Instead, they will hope really, really, really hard, for reform
this year.


Good luck.

By a vote of 4 to 3, good ol' boys lose.

There are seven seats on the APS Board of Education.
3 seats are in mid term, and 4, a majority, are up for election.


There is a candidate in each of the four districts,
who has promised to stand up as a role model
of the Student Standard of Conduct. link


Jeffery C Rich-Renee Louise Rosales-David L. Robbins-Patrick J. Marron

They are so far, the only candidates who have promised
accountability as role models of the Student Standard of
Conduct, including honesty.

They are willing to stop hiding the truth, and to lay the truth
on the table for stakeholders to see. And for problems to be
addressed.

They will show students what it looks like to tell the truth.
They will show students and staff, what character and courage
and honor look like.

Every standards and accountability audit done in the leadership
of the APS has pointed to the lack of standards, and the lack of
accountability.

Governor Bill Richardson said that the APS has a statewide
earned reputation for their lack of financial accountability.

Mayor Marty Chavez argued that the standards and
accountability crisis in the leadership of the APS
warranted mayoral appointments to the school board.

Gil Lovato, former APS Chief of Police said that,
if the truth ever gets out, there won't be a single
APS senior administrator left standing.



Telling the truth about standards and accountability in the
leadership of the APS, means an immediate full scale
standards and accountability audit of the entire leadership
of the APS.

Impartial auditors will look for meaningful standards
of conduct and competence.

They will look for accountability to those standards.

They will look for corruption and incompetence.

The good ol' boys who have knowingly permitted, or
negligently allowed the standards and accountability crisis
in the leadership of the APS,

will be named by name.


Game over.

Good ol' boys lose.



... if only



photos Mark Bralley

APS Students are expected to "tell the truth".

At best, the leadership of the APS is expected "not to lie".

"Telling the truth" is not the same as "not lying".

One is a higher standard of conduct than the other.

The leadership of the APS holds students accountable to
the Pillars of Character Counts!.

The Pillars of Character Counts! represent a code of ethical
conduct. Students are expected to behave ethically.

They are taught that their good character depends upon it.

The leadership of the APS, by their own deliberate choice,
can not produce a record of accountability even to the law;
the lowest standard of conduct of them all.

Administrative standards and accountability are inadequate.

The leadership of the APS cannot point to even one impartial
audit of standards and accountability, that did not expose
grossly deficient standards and accountability.

If you ask them why they won't commission an immediate
standards and accountability audit of the entire leadership of the APS;

• an audit that would expose all of the corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS;
• an audit that would expose the corrupt and the incompetent in the leadership of the APS;
• an audit that would name their names and their misconduct and incompetence.

they won't answer you.

The leadership of the the APS won't lie to you.

They just won't tell you the truth.

David E Peercy, APS Board of Education, District 7

David E Peercy has a slick website. link





What he doesn't have,
is an acceptable answer
to this question;

Do you swear to tell the truth;
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth,

so help you God?

Definitions;
According the Student Standard of Conduct;
the Pillars of Character Counts!

Telling the truth means; responding to legitimate questions by
answering candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

Exceptions;
There are ethical and legal restrictions on
the truth that public servants can share.

Those exceptions are recognized and accepted.

Of all of the rest of the truth though;
will you look in to the eyes of stakeholders, raise your right hand
and say;

I promise to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth,

so help me God.

photo; Mark Bralley

A Framework of Possibilities

Winston Brooks is about to shake up RGHS.

I have in my hand a document entitled;

A Framework of Possibilities.

It was handed out to APS Board of Education at their meeting about the restructuring of Rio Grande High School and Ernie Pyle Middle School.

As a stand alone document, it is difficult to make great sense of.

It looks to me like the teachers union and the administration
have been working together for some time to provide a framework for restructuring schools whose restructuring has been mandated by their ongoing "failure" to meet NCLB standards.

What I find most disturbing is that, I cannot find the words
"student discipline" anywhere in the document.

It is almost like no one in the leadership of the APS is aware of the impact of chronically disruptive students, on the learning process of other students. Either that, or they just don't want to talk about it on the record.

I can understand why the leadership of the APS wants to soft
play a problem that falls more reasonably in their lap, than on
the laps of teachers.

I cannot understand why the Albuquerque Federation of Teachers is reticent to document a problem that makes teachers look incompetent,

and doesn't move that problem onto the table of those who have the power, resources and the responsibility to deal with it.

Was APS Superintendent Tom Savage fired?

I was talking with APS Superintendent Winston Brooks
this morning.

I was reminding him that the evidence of felony criminal
misconduct involving senior APS administrators,
and the APS Police Department, was being hidden from
criminal prosecution.

The look on his face indicated to me that,
it was news to him.

I will ask him later, what he has found out.



It has been suggested that there was indeed
a senior APS administrator held accountable for the mess in the
APS Police Department; it was Tom Savage.


Except that Tom Savage "retired" with honors.

And when APS administrators who have had a hand in
suppressing evidence of felony criminal misconduct,
have their names written in history, Tom Savage's name
will not be among them.

School Board Candidate Paula Maes once boasted that
she would never allow any audit that would name the names
of the corrupt and the incompetent in the leadership of the APS

"... like for example, Tom Savage"
Thursday, August 16, 2007

And damned if she didn't.



And how do you get her,
as a candidate for the school board,
to explain exactly what she meant?

Why has there never been an audit that named names?


The media obviously isn't going to ask Paula Maes,
the President of the N M Broadcasters Association,

to explain her remark, or to explain why they won't allow
an honest, impartial forensic administrative standards and
accountability audit

as soon as is humanly possible.

I met with Marty Esquivel and Jon Barela

The meeting occurred Friday, last. I have not written about it
because I felt it was a work in progress.

I think now, we are done.

I went to Mr. Barela and Mr. Esquivel to propose that
they be the motion and the second, to put

APS administrative standards and accountability

on the table for an honest and open public discussion
before the upcoming school board elections.

There is a need. Every recent audit of the leadership of the APS
has pointed to significant standards and accountability issues.

They were asked to place standards and accountability on
the table for discussion.

In so far as any answer except yes, means no,
their answer is no.

I told Mr. Barela that,
rather than me trying to
articulate his position,
he was welcome to post
a comment on this post.


I will copy any response
into the post, so that everything
is on the same page.


Mr. Esquivel has the same opportunity.




photos Mark Bralley






Update; Neither Esquivel nor Barela chose to respond to this opportunity to explain, defend, deny, or even acknowledge their position.

Winston Brooks evaluation, the board meeting.

The board meeting began at 7:30.

It began with a motion and a second to add a year to
Winston Brooks, already extraordinarily long, contract.

The motion was passed without discussion or debate;
unanimously.

After which,
each board member spoke in support of their decision.

I think that it is fair to say that all of the good things they said
about Winston Brooks, are true;

• He is a hell of a nice guy, affable, likable, a handsome face for the APS.
  
• He has formed a precedent setting bond with the community.
• He has established goals, to which he can be held accountable.
• He is a good leader.
• He is a man of action.
• He is a good communicator.
  

I would take issue with the compliment that he had assembled a great leadership team. I would take issue because his leadership team is made up of exactly the same people who led us to where we are now; there is not one new face.

My biggest complaint though, my only complaint really,
it that Winston Brooks' evaluation did not touch on his
obligations as the senior most administrative role model
of the Student Standard of Conduct.

There is no overt proof that he is accountable to the same
standards of conduct and competence that he enforces
upon students.

Inconspicuous role modeling is an oxymoron.

A role model has to actually do something to call attention
to themselves and the behavior that they are modeling.

There is only one way to role model accountability to the
Student Standard of Conduct, and that is to actually hold
yourself honestly accountable to the Student Standard of Conduct.



There is no equivalent gesture.

He has fallen short as a role model.

It's a deal breaker.


cc Winston Brooks upon posting

Character Counts! is a declarative sentence.

In 1994, that APS Board of Education, unanimously
adopted Character Counts! as the model for character
education in the APS.

The APS Student Standard of Conduct reads;

"... students are expected to model and promote
the Pillars of Character Counts! ..."

The Pillars of Character Counts! are a nationally
recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethical conduct.

Students are taught that their character is important;
to them, and to the people around them.

Role modeling is integral to teaching students about character.
Some one has to show them what it looks like.

Fundamental to the Student Standard of Conduct,
is the expectation that students hold themselves honestly
accountable for their conduct.

We teach them that their character depends upon it.

We teach them, by means of our words, that
if they are asked a legitimate question about their conduct,
they are supposed to answer, candidly, forthrightly, and
honestly.

We teach them that their character depends upon it.


We illustrate the point with a story about George Washington.

And then we illustrate the point with our personal example;
we model the conduct we expect from students.
We show them what it looks like to be honest when it is
done at some personal sacrifice.

Or not.

The leadership of the APS will not just sit down and tell the
truth. No one will point to a time, a day and a place,
where they will sit still and answer legitimate questions about
the public interests, and about their public service.

They accept legitimate questions only by means of a system
that allows them to ignore the questions, to stonewall them.

Upton Sinclair, derived;

We should not be so worried that
students never listen to us,
when we tell them to be honest;

as we should be worried that
they are always watching us,
when we are being dishonest.

It is dishonest to stonewall legitimate questions.
It violates the Student Standard of Conduct.

The leadership of the APS,
in refusing to role model the Pillar of Trustworthiness,
violates the Student Standard of Conduct, again.

They fall short as role models of the Student Standard of Conduct.

In their refusal to provide a system under which
they can be held honestly accountable for their failure,
they violate the Student Standard of Conduct, again.

We teach students that they must cooperate in the principled
resolution of a complaint that is made against them.

Four candidates for school board have indicated that
they are willing to step up as role models of
the Student Standard of Conduct;

understanding full well that it means that;
they will sit down and respond to legitimate questions
about the public interests, and about their public service,

candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.

Because that is what they will expect students to do.

District 3
Jeffrey C. Rich

District 5
Renee Louise Rosales

District 6
David L. Robbins

District 7
Patrick J. Marron

We have an opportunity to elect a majority to the school board,
who are willing to be held accountable to a standard of conduct
that requires them to tell the truth;
who are willing to start the problem solving, by telling the truth.

The opportunity is unprecedented, and unfortunately,
still un-newsworthy.

And voting has already begun.

Should APS be giving kids condoms?

That was the sit up, pay attention question that was put to the school board candidates last night.

The answer of course is,

Allow me to involve the people that I represent,
by means of meaningful, honest and open discussion
of the issues,

and I'll get back to you.

Instead, a number of candidates defended their intention to
express their personal beliefs, by writing them into district policy.

School board members are there to represent their constituents,
not to think for them.

Stakeholders are entitled to meaningful participation
in decision making that affects their interests.

If a candidate's answer to any question, does not rest on that
foundation, they have disqualified themselves as representatives of their constituents.

Thanks to Jim Villanucci, attendance dismal

60, maybe 70 people showed up at the candidate forum.
Local talk radio giant, Jim Villanucci has been asked
repeatedly to talk about the school board races.

If he wanted to, if he thought it was important,
Villanucci could send hundreds, maybe thousands of people
to the APS School Board Candidate Forums.

He won't. Apparently he doesn't want to,
because it isn't important.

The same can be said for the Journal,
and for the local TV stations
who didn't even send reporters to the forum.