OPINION: An open letter to APS

As engaged people in the community and members of the Albuquerque Journal Community Council, we’re writing this open letter in response to the recently published district report card and our broader concerns surrounding the state of public education within New Mexico’s largest city. This isn’t an exercise in finger-pointing, rather an attempt to create transparency and continue a conversation leading to transparency, accountability and improvement.

Our public schools in many ways are the backbone of our community. It is within their walls that children are molded into learners and, ideally, informed and educated citizens. But with these data points — like 1 in 4 APS students are proficient in math, less than half in reading and many students failing to regularly show up for class — the school district’s reputation holds so many parts of our city back. If the students graduated from high school and aren’t prepared for the workforce or additional education, then their future employment opportunities are limited. The schools’ reputation can deter businesses that offer high-paying jobs from locating here, causing our best and brightest to leave the state in search of better opportunities, perpetuating a cycle of poverty.

To that end, we ask that APS leaders answer the following five questions, which reflect our concerns. The Journal will then run the responses in the opinion section.

1. What is your response to the recently published APS report card? What do you see as the most critical issues it reveals, and what actions are being taken in response?

2. What is within your power — as a superintendent, a teacher, a school board member, a principal — to change? What decisions or initiatives do you think can lead to improvement?

3. What role do unions currently play in the operations and the direction of APS, and do you believe that role is a positive one for students? Additionally, what percentage of APS teachers and employees are union members, and how many board members have current or prior union backing?

4. Who, as APS leaders, are you accountable to and how does that affect your decision making? How do you define success in your role, and who evaluates that success?

5. What would be the advantages or disadvantages of breaking APS into smaller, more locally governed districts? Are there models or reforms in other states that you believe are worth supporting here?

Our goal in this endeavor is to ensure that families, students, educators and taxpayers are part of a meaningful dialogue to ensure we are all on the same page about where we are, where we are going and how we intend to get there. Please feel free, union leaders, administration officials, educators and others, to submit your responses to Ryan Boetel, the opinion editor, at rboetel@abqjournal.com.