When I saw Winston Brooks’ recent column in the Albuquerque Journal on education reform, I knew right away that he was using weasel-words and was not telling the truth about the role of APS in the last legislative session as it relates to education reform. I noticed for example, that Brooks did not offer any specific reforms that they support. Rather, he and his highly-paid lobbyists (paid for by the taxpayers) in Santa Fe merely supported watered-down versions of real reforms.
He also, again, touted APS’s “average” results among some of the largest and poorest school districts in the nation.
Thankfully, a separate article written by Michael DeWitte And Larry Langley of the New Mexico Business Roundtable set the record straight. They explain how APS worked to kill or weaken each reform proposed by the Gov., but it is worth noting that APS has worked to block the way for a host of other reforms including school choice tax credits (sponsored by Democrats) and charter schools (to name just a few).
[...] Of course, the unspoken truth is that the school districts in particular have been among the biggest obstacles to education reform. They have quite a bit at stake in the status quo, so they might not be real [...]