Much of the Albuquerque Public Schools board and senior administration was in Boston this week at the annual Council of the Great City Schools conference.
The conference, which brings together officials from large, urban districts around the county, began Wednesday and will end Sunday. Topics on the agenda include the adoption of Common Core national standards, strategies for addressing student behavioral health issues, lessons learned from the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal and dual language immersion programs.
The district paid $26,187 to send the delegation to the conference, APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta said.
APS Superintendent Winston Brooks is the current chairman of the council, and he addressed the council Thursday. Quotations from the speech, disseminated on the social network Twitter, indicated he called for careful, incremental reform.
Tweets from Brooks’ speech included:
• “Reform is in small steps, but real steps.”
• “At some point we need to address the critical mass that’s overcrowding our classrooms, that time is now.”
• “Brooks: Need to move beyond ‘press release’ reform. Politicians need to come with checkbooks, not poll numbers.”
• “Education reform should focus on the long horizon. Reduce class sizes, improve (professional development). Real reform year in and year out.”
APS board member Kathy Korte is teaming with Chief Operating Officer Brad Winter to outline how they used social media and other tools to spread accurate information and alleviate fears about the planned West Side stadium.
Board member David Peercy and Winter are beginning research on whether building upkeep and maintenance affect student achievement.
Also attending are chief of staff Joseph Escobedo, Chief Financial Officer Don Moya, Assistant Superintendent Eddie Soto, Chief Academic Officer Linda Sink, Director of Board Services Brenda Yager, policy analyst Carrie Menapace, and board members Paula Maes, Analee Maestas and Marty Esquivel.
Brooks also participated in NBC’s “Education Nation” summit in New York last month and traveled to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to meet with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Brooks said giving APS a national profile is one of his priorities. Because of its size, Brooks said, APS faces challenges that are different from its New Mexico counterparts. He said working with large districts from other states helps APS learn the best practices.
“Just to be part of the national discussion is helpful to us,” he said. “I think it’s good for New Mexico and good for APS.”
Brooks also said the district’s national profile has led to funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as other grant opportunities.
Brooks said the school board that hired him asked him to raise APS’ national profile. “I was kind of hired for that purpose, in some ways,” he said.
— This article appeared on page C01 of the Albuquerque Journal
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