Capitalism, Greed, and Education

(News Advisory) For a prescient look at financial trends and corporate behavior, watch Michael Moore’s films, Sicko (2007) and Capitalism: A Love Story (2009). The films anticipate the complaints expressed by Occupy Wall Street (OWS). Contrary to Corporate and Congressional propaganda, the American way of life is falling further and further behind contemporary industrial countries—due to greedy rich people. The inequity of wealth and income, wherein the few prosper at the expense of the many, has become a sick sign of the American debacle. Now we are seeing the social reaction in terms of social unrest.

Here in Taos, predatory trustees and management at KCEC are still borrowing money against member equity and spending dollars on extravagant expenses and grandiose visions. The KCEC leadership has ignored El Norte’s tradition of frugality. Electric rate increases, recently approved by the PRC, will continue to rise next year, based on proposed rate increases from  KCEC’s unregulated supplier of electric power.

Meanwhile, KCEC props up its money-losing divisions by using electric side assets. In the process, KCEC has gone to the historically solvent Town of Taos, looking for a bailout of the ill-advised Command Center.  KCEC has even hired a professional public relations manager to help cover-up its excesses.

Since the mainstream media censors news about the schools, the public is unaware of the way in which Taos Pueblo youth have been discriminated against by TMS administrators, some board members, and their relatives who work for the district. Administrators and most board members are also ignoring those students in the greater district—especially Hispanic students–who qualify for special services.

Regardless of local particulars, a civil rights issue exists at TMS.

According to preliminary AYP reports, the public schools continue to fail a majority of the children in Taos and the state. While unions, current board members, and administrators blame selective former board members or the Republicans, here in Taos, the entire system is a fundamental and decades-long failure due to nepotism and a complete lack of vision and leadership. The occasional successes in the classroom or on the athletic fields are the exceptions that emphasize the  failure of the majority.

The Reagan revolution—steal from the poor and keep the ill-gotten gains for the rich—is coming to an end. Sooner or later the voters will wake up and say, “These parasites (like the Trustees or Administrators) have gone too far—even in Taos.” Someday Taosenos will demand that their public tax dollars be used not to subsidize Crab Hall fat cats  but for educating the children.

TMS Report Card

By Lorraine Coca-Ruiz

The 2011 AYP (Average yearly Progress) reports are pretty dismal, not just at the Taos school district but also at the state level.

The AYP report is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which was signed into law in January 2002. It measures schools in three areas: academic performance, test participation and a “second indicator,” such as graduate rate or attendance. Students were expected to achieve proficiency at grade level in reading and math by 2014.

Schools that fail to make AYP two years in a row are placed on a state’s list of schools needing improvement. Schools on the school improvement list need to meet their AYP goals for two consecutive years to be removed. Title I schools, which accept federal grant money to offset neighborhood poverty, face extra repercussions, and can be forced to allow all students a chance to transfer to another school.

Under the law, parents must be given the option to transfer their children to the nearest public school in good standing with room to teach them. And if a school fails three years in a row, districts have to offer eligible students free tutoring.

Superintendent Rod Weston was hired at TMS, based on his knowledge, vision, and passion for closing the achievement gap. Weston persuaded the board that the Taos schools would meet AYP by his second year at the Taos school district. Taos schools have neither met AYP nor are the schools closing the achievement gap under Weston’s leadership.

“Accountability Starts at the Top.”

I challenge the school board members to look beyond their desire for Weston to be an effective leader and take a hard look at the evidence. AYP results tell a story not of success but of failure.

All the money spent on training is not going to help unless programs are implemented.

According to Davis Guggenheim, the filmmaker behind the widely praised Waiting for “Superman” documentary, up to 75 percent of graduates need to take at least one remedial course in college.

Nearly 90 percent of New Mexico schools missed the latest targets for boosting student achievement, according to the Public Education Department.

A total of 720 schools, or 86.6 percent, failed to make “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. That’s up from 76.7 percent, or 634 schools, last year.

New Mexico Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera said the state will ask the federal government this fall to allow the state to use its own school rating system rather than continue with the federally mandated model.

Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill which passed in the regular session requires all schools to be assigned a letter grade that would grade school performances on an A–F scale, part of her plan to reform education in New Mexico.

The first grades for schools will appear in 2012 and will be based on performance on standardized tests from the previous academic year.

The first step to ensuring every student has access to a quality education is establishing a strong foundation of accountability and transparency.

Martinez said, “Assigning a simple letter grade to New Mexico’s schools provides a clear picture of which ones are succeeding, which ones are failing and how we can best target resources to the schools and students most in need of help.”

It does take a partnership with parents and the community, but until our bureaucrats hire better staff at the central office, I am afraid that the status quo is all we can expect.

According to the rumbling at Taos Municipal Schools, more changes in administration will occur in early December.

I’ll be watching