Albuquerque Public Schools

New Mexico Secretary of Education Veronica C. García released the following statement Friday afternoon in response to a graduation rate story in this morning’s Albuquerque Journal.
“It is unfortunate that APS jumped the gun, discussed preliminary data and has ignited public confusion.

“Very possibly” answers The Albuquerque Journal in a story today.
Reporter Andrea Schoellkopf writes that “Albuquerque Public Schools could face immediate cuts of $25 million to $30 million in its $668.5 million budget if the state orders budget cuts for public education.”

I’m just as surprised as Albuquerque Journal reporter Charlie Eisenhood, who blogged this week about his shock in finding out that the Albuquerque Public Schools doesn’t allow the distribution of condoms or other birth control.
Meanwhile, New Mexico has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation.

Former Albuquerque Tribune Editor Phill Casaus has landed another job — this time at Albuquerque Public Schools. Casaus has been named executive director of the Albuquerque Public Schools Education Foundation.

I graduated from Rio Grande High School and now, ten years later it appears the cluster is once again reverting to a failed hierarchical “trickle down” approach. This philosophy and administrative shakeup is not only antiquated, but ignores the lessons and calls from President Obama’s declared “new era of responsibility.” The APS superintendent’s proposal falls short because it fails to give the community ownership or input in the cluster’s successes and failures.

About 1,890 employees and visitors to Los Alamos National Laboratory could have been exposed to beryllium contamination at a storage facility in Los Alamos Canyon, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
Meanwhile, superintendent Winston Brooks has ordered 5 percent to 10 percent cuts in administrative costs throughout the Albuquerque Public Schools system, according to the Albuquerque [...]

The chief of Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) has shuffled two South Valley schools in a dramatic gamble to prompt improvement, The Albuquerque Journal reports (sign-up required). Meanwhile, in another part of the state, an oil and gas company has asked Farmington to waive a law prohibiting drilling near homes at night, according to The Farmington [...]

Remember Constitutional Amendment 1, passed by voters on Election Day? While the amendment was approved statewide, in Bernalillo County the measure failed by a razor-thin 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent margin. In other words, the only place in the state affected by the amendment didn’t approve it. Now a legal battle looms.

The Bernalillo County Clerk’s Bureau of Elections put a lot of effort into making sure Thursday’s mock election at five Albuquerque Public Schools was realistic. Staff members conducted forums at each school where several elected officials spoke, provided the real ballot and the official tabulator, and assured students that this was how the “real” voting [...]