2 new to APS board have charter school ties

There will be two new faces on the Albuquerque school board next month, and both new members have ties to the charter school community.

That could change the dynamic of a school board that has not authorized a new charter school in years, but which has spent millions incorporating charters into its capital master plan.

Don Duran won out over three other candidates in District 6, including incumbents Paula Maes and David Robbins, whose districts were consolidated during redistricting.

Duran is a former APS principal who headed Cibola and Albuquerque high schools throughout the 1990s and also has been superintendent of Belen Consolidated Schools and an assistant education secretary under former Gov. Bill Richardson. He was the state official in charge of charters, and enjoys strong support from the charter community.

The other new addition to the board is Steven Michael Quezada, of the TV series “Breaking Bad.” He sits on the governing council of the Public Academy for Performing Arts, which is an APS-authorized charter and which Quezada’s children attend.

During a forum in the lead-up to the election, Quezada, who ran unopposed, said he believes APS should seek to learn from the innovation of local charter schools.

Quezada and Duran will be sworn in March 6. They will join board members Martin Esquivel, Analee Maestas, Kathy Korte, Lorenzo Garcia and David Peercy. Garcia and Peercy were both re-elected this month.

Duran said he would like to see the board improve as a charter authorizer.

“I would like to see the National Association of Charter School Authorizers come to the district and do some training with the board and superintendent on, how do you evaluate charters, how do you hold them accountable, and how do you hold the district accountable, so when they come up for renewal it’s not about emotion, but it’s about data and performance measurements. And I think that has been missing from the equation as we look at charter schools,” Duran said.

While the board has tended to unanimously reauthorize its existing charters and provide facilities to them, it has taken several votes perceived as anti-charter.

Specifically, the board’s legislative agenda advocates for changes to the state education funding formula, which could limit the expansion of charter schools that haven’t shown academic growth, and eliminate subsidies to small schools. Charters rely heavily on that subsidy.

The board also voted to limit the ability of APS students to take online classes from charter schools, if those classes are reasonably available within the district.

The board has also advocated against the creation of new charters in the Metro area.

Maestas, who is halfway through her first term representing the South Valley, was the lone dissenting voice in all of those votes. Maestas is a founder and administrator of La Promesa charter school, which is chartered by the state.

With the addition of Duran and Quezada to the seven-member board, votes on charter school matters may be closer in the future.

Esquivel, who is now the most senior member of the board since the defeat of incumbent president Maes, said there are always changes with a new board, but he doesn’t expect a drastic change in direction.

“I wouldn’t be surprised with two new board members, if they want to take a look at charter issues, but the reality is 95 percent of our work is within the traditional school realm,” Esquivel said.

He also said the board has room for improvement when it comes to tone, and he welcomes the perspective of a charter school parent.

“I think the perception of our tone sometimes and how we cooperate with the charter schools has sometimes been questioned, and it’s always worth revisiting,” he said.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal