GradeGate: Albuquerque Public Schools

I’ve had at least ten emails asking me (in almost hushed tones), what I think of the GradeGate scandal  (Andrea Schollkopf, Albuquerque Journal, subscription required) and the subsequent investigations. I decided to wait and read and try to glean as much information as possible before coming to my own conclusions. It’s been difficult considering how much information has been kept from the public and is just now coming out.

For those of you not familiar:

• A student at Rio Grande High School had his English grade changed from an F to a D in order to graduate.
• The student’s parents are a former APS Board of Education member and a current Bernalillo County Commissioner. They claimed they hadn’t been notified that their son was failing.
• The teacher and the principal refused to change the grade. The teacher went through incredible hoops to try to help this student improve his grade including allowing him extra time to turn in make-up work, giving him a copy of the final test (and the answers), and the instruction that he needed to achieve no less than 100% on the test in order to improve his grade. He did not achieve this and his make-up work was four weeks late.
• The Cluster Lead of Instruction took the make-up work, had another teacher review it, and decided the grade should be changed.
• The administrator supposedly contacted Associate Superintendent of Clusters (her boss) and the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum for advice and approval.
• Strangely, just after this story broke wide-open, both of these Associate Superintendent’s announced they would be retiring.
• The teacher’s union filed a grievance on behalf of the teacher.
• The School Board made moves to change the wording on the policy for parent notification in the Student Handbook. School Board member, Marty Esquivel, leads the way in requesting the truth, creating specific language within policy, and demanding answers. (Way to go, Marty.)
• The Superintendent claimed she never had contact from the parents and, from the information she was given, determined that the grade change was appropriate. She has since changed her tune and it has been reported that there are emails that exist indicating that she had, in fact, been contacted by the mother and by all of the administrators.  She now claims she was not given all of the information and might have taken a different stance.
• The school principal claimed he had the evidence that the parents had been notified. This was refuted by the Cluster Lead. The principal noted that the evidence was available on the administrative level reports through SchoolMAX.
• The state education department got involved, did an investigation, and sided with the teacher and principal.
• More information is now coming out about insider communications, political pressuring, who gave money to the County Commissioner for election, who supported Delores Griegos for election to the school board (RGHS is within her district and she’s been conspicuously absent/quiet about this situation.  It has been inferred that she received support from the County Commissioner and her now ex-husband.), and how the evidence of parent notification has been available the entire time.
• The Cluster Lead may be investigated for ethics violations.
• Nothing is being said about other possible ethics violations by the superintendent, the associate superintendents (who are now above reproach by way of retirement), or holding the County Commissioner and the former school board member (although he was still in his seat until March) accountable for their actions. (I’m guessing that will be up to the voters during re-election.)
• The student still gets to keep his diploma.  The parents claim the state never contacted them for their side of the story.

That’s not even all of it but it’s some of it. And it may just be the tip of the iceberg… who knows?

What do I think of it? Not that MY opinion really matters because, really, I’m just a parent and all… and my kids only attend APS schools… (*rolls eyes*)  I mean, even if I believed everything that’s been said and written, what other conclusions could I make?  As an intelligent human being with strong deductive powers, I’m led to this by the actions of leaders and by the evidence that is still mounting:

I think it stinks. I think it reeks. I think the administrators in APS must be smokin’ crack to believe that the public hasn’t already had enough of the “we’re still investigating” shenanigans. I think Marty Esquivel, and those finally publicly supporting him, are doing what the school board is supposed to do: measure the effectiveness of the superintendent and demand accurate and timely answers to any and all investigative processes and the results. I think cronyism exists to the N’TH’ degree within APS and we’ve only just begun to understand how things really work.

I think parents will be up in arms. I think the city’s political leaders will, once again, assert themselves in taking over Albuquerque Public Schools (except maybe the police department part… *said with severe sarcasm*) I think teachers are as fed up as the rest of the population by the horrid injustices and lack of professionalism by the administrators. I think the relationship between the administration and the teacher’s union will have a tremendous opportunity to erode.  I think, if the legislature were in session, any legislation regarding splitting the district would pass unanimously and that Albuquerque voters would give it their whole-hearted approval.

I think the school board is going to have to step it up and make some uncomfortable and possibly un-popular decisions. I think the administration, while attempting to improve district relations through a new public relations effort, will have to concede they have failed in doing so by their own actions. I think their actions have created blight on an already tarnished image. I think any crusades of positivism I’ve fought for in the past are now doomed. I think trust is gone and it is replaced by overall suspicion. I think Ched MacQuigg hasn’t been too far off with his assessments even if many thought they were “angry” or “crazy” or “just another disgruntled teacher acts out” kind of rants.  (No offense, Ched.)

I think Beth Everitt has been too behind-the-scenes and is now caught, along with the rest of the cronies involved, and I can’t imagine what she could now say that would change people’s minds. I think the superintendent should have been decisive, clear, and above reproach.  I can’t say that about this superintendent because of what’s being reported, what she is or is not saying. What she has been saying is now contrary to the reports so, what I am supposed to conclude?

I think parents need to pack the board meetings and support Marty Esquivel, Gordon Rowe, Mary Lee Martin, and any of the other board members who finally get on the truth-train.

I think the superintendent and the other administrators involved need to step forward and admit their role in this debacle and stop trying to hang one person, be it the principal or the Cluster Lead, or a retired Associate Superintendent, out to dry. I think they need to present all of the evidence. All of it; not just parts of it.

Then I think they need to do the honorable thing. I’ll leave that up to the reader and the administrators to decide what that is. I don’t know if I can even say it out loud.

I’ll tell you… I really like Beth Everitt. I like her sensitivities, her kindness, the way she greeted my children or any other children because it is truly evident that she cares about the kids. I like her openness to new ideas and efforts to make changes to communication. I like that I have her cell phone number and that she’ll pick it up and take my call. I like that for which I thought she stood. I like her professional approach on a lot of things concerning APS.  For every cent of positive change, I gave her and APS a dollar of trust in my passport.  I fear the account is now near bankrupt.

Now, I’m having my doubts… and I don’t want to have them because I want her to be decisive, honest, forthcoming, ethical, and able to navigate the political waters of this city’s beast: APS.

A friend told me that, “…this GradeGate thing is not going to just go away. You do know that, right?” and I took the stance that the truth would come out. I took the stance that the principal said he had the evidence and I questioned why it wasn’t brought to light. I took the stance that policies and procedures are too broadly written and it feels like the lawyers are providing the guiding principles within this organization rather than reviewing language for ambiguity.

Instead, we are given watered-down versions and slippery courses of action that do nothing to hold accountability, ethics, integrity, and measurable/specific goals as our preferred route for improvement.

I took the stance that Beth Everitt would be truthful and would provide information once all of the facts were collected. I believed… or, at least, I wanted to.  I’ve tried to remain positive and supportive through an awful lot of crap regarding APS.  I guess I’ve reached my last straw.  I guess I’ll no longer be on that “go-to parent” list when they need support.

But that’s just what I think and, well, what do I know?

::UPDATE: June 23::

For anyone thinking this GradeGate thing is no big deal… Let me put it into blog perspective.  I’ve received over 135 hits to this one blog post within less than 24 hours.  My average hits in a day to the entire blog are about 200.  People are reading about it, thinking about it, searching for it, and referencing it.  It is a big deal; it is a very big deal.  It’s not that this site is particularly popular (yet!) but this shows me that everyone is concerned about what is going on and what’s going to happen from here.  The Google searches all had the tag “GradeGate” within them and most of the searches were local.  APS had better recognize this and act swiftly.  It’s on the minds of an awful lot of people.  In fact, some time ago, the County Commissioner (mother) was quoted in a story done by Susie Gran in the ABQ Tribune.  Go read it but more importantly, read the comments from readers at the bottom of the page.  Interesting stuff and it’s only getting worse with things like this raw video from KRQE.