Albuquerque Public Schools leader went on a podcast. Here's what she had to say.

The superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools appeared on a national education podcast this week, discussing the district’s goals and challenges, where improvements are needed, and where they’re being made.

The podcast, “On the Clock,” is hosted by Todd Lamb, a consultant who previously worked as special assistant to President George W. Bush’s U.S. Department of Education during his first term.

“Our district is really unique; we are the largest district in a very rural state, so we’re the urban setting pretty much in New Mexico,” Gabriella Blakey said. “We cover the area of Rhode Island in our district, so we have a vast amount of land that we cover in serving our students, which means we serve urban, suburban, rural (students) we kind of have the whole spectrum of students within our district.”

She also acknowledged transportation as one of APS’ “biggest challenges” because of the district’s wide geography.

At one point, Lamb asked about the board’s goals and specifically inquired about the role of the landmark Yazzie-Martinez ruling in relation to those.

“That lawsuit really has opened the mind to us on how are we strategically making sure that we are serving the needs of all our students because the lawsuit showed that we were not as a state,” Blakey said.

She also spoke on New Mexico, which often ranks at the bottom of national rankings on test scores and education outcomes, and discussed Mississippi as a model for improving the ranking.

“New Mexico and Mississippi used to really be the two (states) that were the lowest in proficiency among students, and so once Mississippi turned their state, we were kind of like ‘Uh-oh, what happened to Mississippi?’” Blakey said. “But it was a little bit of a kick for us that we can do better for students, and it’s possible.”

Spearheaded by their former state Superintendent Carey Wright, Mississippi jumped in national rankings for early literacy with increased focus on teaching phonics and comprehension, called the science of reading. Wright’s success has become known as the “Mississippi miracle.”

This week, APS — and New Mexico — celebrated significant strides in students’ reading scores and proficiency ratings.

Blakey also discussed APS efforts to increase college and career readiness, another one of the goals set by the board, and spoke on the need and ongoing district efforts to train students for careers in the trades or others that don’t require a college degree.

“We have to provide those opportunities for students,” she said. “I do think that we’ve done a disservice to our students and to our community by creating this one-track education system.”