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   <TITLE>Board President Comments March 6, 2000</TITLE>
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<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>Comments of Board President</FONT></B></CENTER>

<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>Carla Lopez</FONT></B></CENTER>

<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>March 6, 2000</FONT></B></CENTER>

<CENTER>&nbsp;</CENTER>


<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Six years ago I came onto this Board of Education with
certain attitudes that I believe reflected widely held attitudes within
the community.&nbsp; At that time I believed that the public schools were
failing and still I dropped my children off at school every day.&nbsp;
I believed that teachers and principals were the Enemy and still I dropped
my children off at school every day.&nbsp; The only thing I knew about
administration was the name of the superintendent and still I dropped my
children off at school every day.&nbsp; And I saved the most insulting
sentiments for school board members.&nbsp; The only thing I ever saw school
board members do was fight publicly with each other, interfere in coaching
choices and generally behave in ways that were not very compelling or smart.&nbsp;
And still I dropped my children off at school every day.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>It is now the year 2000, the year of the dragon, the dragon
that in Chinese mythology symbolizes authority, courage and good fortune.&nbsp;
Over these years of volunteer service to my community, I have learned on
the job about authority, courage and good fortune.&nbsp; Six years ago
I sat down in that chair and I was terrified. I did not know the difference
between operational and capital monies.&nbsp; I did not have a clue how
board policies affected classrooms.&nbsp; I knew little to nothing about
salary schedules, special education, ancillary services, title programs,
site based management, facilities planning, pupil teacher ratios, charter
schools or transportation formulas.&nbsp; And I definitely did not know
that getting extra help for learning to read was somehow tied to the free
and reduced lunch count.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+1>&nbsp;</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+1>What I knew very well were many people whose lives were
a continuing cycle of poverty, teen pregnancy, violence, prison and death.&nbsp;
To me these were not statistics but real people, way too many real people.&nbsp;
I knew also that the schools seemed like a logical place to try to make
a difference.&nbsp; I knew that I cared and I knew that I was going to
step up to the plate and take a swing, terror and all.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I know now that although there has been phenomenal institutional
progress in key areas in public education in Santa Fe, the question that
has not been answered is how did we get to the point of overspending our
budget by 2.6 million dollars and having our financial authority suspended
by the State Department of Education.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I can give a million reasons and excuses for what happened.&nbsp;
But not one of those justifies the pain, anger and hardship that has been
the result of this financial crisis.&nbsp; Why did this happen?&nbsp; I
believe it happened because of complacency, trust and ignorance.&nbsp;
As a body we were complacent about what we judged as progress in the business
office. As a body we trusted that the information we were receiving was
reliable, and as a body we behaved as if ignorant about the extent of the
mess.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Along with my colleagues, I sat here and not only faced
the pain and anger but made decisions that caused the pain, the anger and
also the hardship.&nbsp; Six years ago I believed horrible things about
every level of the public schools and yet in a state of personal complacency,
I dropped my children off at school every day.&nbsp; I did not trust the
public schools on basic levels and still I dropped my children off at school
every day.&nbsp; And from my own place of personal ignorance about what
I believed schools could provide for my children I dropped them off at
school every day.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>As a body this Board of Education can beat and berate
ourselves for having blown it on the finances or we can act from authority
and courage in the clean-up and in on-going support for those areas in
which there has already been phenomenal institutional progress.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>To illustrate that progress I am going to talk about a
couple of big areas.&nbsp; One is community participation and the second
is what I am calling "The Big Pieces."&nbsp; I am going to do 2 visuals
here.&nbsp; First, I am going to point out these banners and the certificates
along the back wall and I am also going to show some slides that illustrate
this community's commitment to our public schools in the form of Business
and Community Partnerships.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Six years ago, formalized partnerships probably existed
but the perspective of the community as represented by the Board was that
there were none.&nbsp; Between 1994 and 1996 as far as I can tell there
were three formalized partnerships, CSF, SFCC and SER.&nbsp; Then, after
the appointment of Leslie Carpenter as Director of Business and Community
Partnerships, this is what happened.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>What this slide shows is that in 96-97 there were 13 formalized
Business &amp; Ccommunity Partnerships, in 97-98 there were 234, and in
98-99, last school year, there were 451 formalized Business &amp; Community
Partnerships.&nbsp; As a body this Board supported a structure that provided
formalized partnerships between the schools and business and community
people.&nbsp; Lets examine those partnerships represented in this room
alone.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>They are Santa Fe County, City of Santa Fe, Palace of
the Governors, Federal Highway Commission, New Mexico National Guard, Partners
In Education, Santa Fe Children’s Museum, St. Vincent Hospital, Wise Men
&amp; Women, Los Sabios Mentoring Program, Santa Fe Education &amp; Apprenticeship
Network, Chamber of Commerce Education Council, Royal City Radio Control
Club, Cooking with Kids, Temple Beth Shalom, Unitarian Universalist Congregation,
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Business Advisory Council, Santa Fe Association
of Realtors, Coca Cola, Ortiz Printing/SF Team Sales, IBM, Xerox Corporation,
Computer Partners, Wild Oats Community Markets, Alfalfa’s, Tomasita’s,
Jackalope, Sunsilk Landscaping, Borders Books, Office Max, Statnekoy Internet
Consulting, and The Santa Fe New Mexican.&nbsp; These slides, banners and
certificates represent only 32 of the total 451.&nbsp; The other 419 formalized
Partnerships are in the schools.&nbsp; What I am holding up here is a listing
of those partnerships by school.&nbsp; For anyone who wants to take a look
at this list we have some copies available or you can get a copy from Krisha
Leyba in the Board office.&nbsp; These partnerships demonstrate system
wide support for community involvement in the public schools.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Another example of community involvement is through the
SF Board of Education's Silver Zia Awards.&nbsp; These awards are given
to organizations and individuals recognized by Board Members as exemplary
in the area of partnering with schools.&nbsp; The first awards were presented
to: The Theater Residency Project under the direction of Cookie Jordan,
Linda Borrego, Charlie Maxwell, Robert Weil and Rick Anaya.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I must also mention a partnership that is very special
to me personally.&nbsp; NITI, the National Indian Telecommunications Institute
is my employer.&nbsp; The President and CEO of NITI is Karen Buller who
many of you know from her days as an active parent.&nbsp;&nbsp; NITI trains
teachers in reservation, public, BIA and private schools serving Native
American students nationwide in the area of technology.&nbsp; NITI also
lobbys in Washington, DC and provide technology education and training
at Native American conferences nationwide.&nbsp; Because of my job at NITI,
I bring technology expertise to the Santa Fe Board of Education.&nbsp;
NITIs support for the SF public schools occurs in the form of providing
me with a completely flexible schedule.&nbsp; And that is not all.&nbsp;
NITI Business Manager Robert Bradbury serves as the chair of the SFPS Audit
Committee and as a member of the Food Service Task Force.&nbsp; Thank you
Karen, Bob and all the staff at NITI.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>The second big piece that I want to point out is illustrated
in these next slides which I call "The Big Pieces."&nbsp; As a body, Board
of Education support for the Facilities Master Planning Process is unshakeable.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The Facilities Master Planning Process includes plans and a process for
maintenance and upkeep for existing school buildings along with plans for
building new schools.&nbsp; A very significant part of the Plan is that
if all goes according to plan, bond and mill levy elections over the next
7 to 10 years will be renewals of existing taxes and not increased taxes
for property owners.&nbsp; The Plan also gives school communities (parents,
teachers, principals) a voice in all school building maintenance, repair
and new construction plans and decisions.&nbsp; The Plan also prioritizes
expenditures by putting the most pressing health and safety needs first.&nbsp;
And the entire plan was built and is being sustained with the involvement
of active volunteer citizens through the Citizens Review Committee.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Six years ago, the visionary concept of Interest Based
Bargaining was in its infancy.&nbsp; Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) is
a collective bargaining structure based on what is in the best interest
of the whole not what is in the best interest of only one or two constituencies.&nbsp;
Traditional adversarial bargaining assumes that the employees are the enemy.&nbsp;
IBB or collaborative bargaining assumes that everyone has a place at the
table.&nbsp; The 97-98 IBB process resulted in an agreement at the bargaining
table that the lowest paid employees would receive the greatest increase
in salaries. IBB is a concept that is fully supported by this Board.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Six years ago, the Executive Leadership Council for Youth
and Education (ELC) was barely a blip on the radar screen. The ELC consists
of the following nine organizations: The Santa Fe Public Schools, United
Way of Santa Fe County, City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, Santa Fe Community
College, St Vincent Hospital, IBM, Presbyterian Medical Services and Public
Service Company of NM all working together on the Community Schools Initiative.&nbsp;
This Initiative is aimed at making each and every one of our schools centers
of our community. The ELCs Community Schools Initiative will provide a
structure that is mutually supportive of the needs, wants, and wishes of
the community and the schools. I feel optimistic when I see these players
at the table all talking about schools as centers of community.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>As a body, the Board of Education has supported the on-going
Legislative Task Force.&nbsp; This is a group of 20 revolving members who
have worked systematically at the legislature for 5 years on the issues
listed on this slide.&nbsp; The Statewide Issues we have been working on
are A. Increased Funding for Education which, of course, includes money
for increasing all employee salaries and we are also pursuing a cost-of
living adjustment to the funding formula, B. We are also lobbying for a
review of the law that determines&nbsp; special education funding based
on prior year numbers and C. We are lobbying for Full-Day Kindergarten.&nbsp;
Specific SFPS Legislative issues are: A. Money for expanded Summer School
Programs, B. Money for Technology and C. Money for expanding our Safe Schools
Programs.&nbsp; Again, the Board of Education has supported a forum for
employees and community people to work systematically on legislative issues.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I think this is an appropriate place to speak to the issue
of teacher compensation.&nbsp; Experienced teachers with a masters degree
make $32,000 a year less than people in other fields with the same level
of education.&nbsp; If we really want to improve public education we must
remedy the issue of teacher compensation.&nbsp; This issue will take a
massive, public and collective protest in order for this nation to act
to fill this gaping chasm.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>The SFPS Legislative Task Force has evolved into a permanent
committee so that these massive issues can be pursued year-around locally,
statewide and nationally.&nbsp; I invite you participation.</FONT><FONT SIZE=+1></FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Six years ago the Board of Education had, for the first
time, just facilitated genuine community participation in the selection
of a Superintendent.&nbsp; In 1996 we participated a second time in a process
for selecting a superintendent.&nbsp; And when I say “We” I refer to 60
people from all parts of this community who sat on 2 different, very grueling,
6 month long, Superintendent Search Committees.&nbsp; And I say it was
genuine participation for the first time, because we have all heard the
stories of people who sat on selection committees and then had their recommendations
be ignored by the Board of Education.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>This Board has worked consistently to provide structures
that support community participation in all our public schools.&nbsp; And
this community has stepped up to the plate and participated in large number
and for a long time.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I also want to talk about how the Board supports Instruction.
On this one, I do not pretend to be an educator yet I am proud of the Boards
work supporting the items on this slide. I have been not only convinced
but inspired by 3 different superintendents and one interim superintendent
in the area of instruction.&nbsp; Six years ago, SFPS did not have a Curriculum
and Instruction framework. I came to understand the significance of the
Curriculum framework and of the Educational Plan for Student Success (EPSS)
back in 1995.&nbsp; In preparation for building the Curriculum framework,
SFPS teachers, principals, counselors, aids and administrators trained
together for 2 weeks at the Kovalick Institute in Texas.&nbsp; They then
worked together at BF Young for another month or longer to draft the first
part of the curriculum framework. The process of building the Curriculum
framework has been repeatedly referred to by involved teachers as one that
allowed for the most professional dialogue of their careers.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>In my own education about Instruction, I had to first
make peace with the whole idea of standards.&nbsp; I had to ask “now whose
standards are we using here?"&nbsp; Well it turns out that raising standards
is not something I would argue with.&nbsp; In explaining standards I am
going to paraphrase the words of Secretary Riley of the US Department of
Education.&nbsp; Raising standards is making sure that every child is reading
well by the end of the third grade if not earlier … Raising standards is
making sure every high school is offering Advanced Placement classes and
the arts. Raising standards is increasing the number of schools that offer
foreign languages so that all our children can speak English and have a
fluency in at least one other language.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+1>I also agree with Secretary Riley when he says that we
do the greatest injustice to poor children if we allow low expectations
to prevail.&nbsp; I also know now that the move to raise standards is poorly
understood and like all else in this complex institution we must be patient
not to blame schools for not doing enough; and not to shame students, teachers
and parents for what appears to be lack of progress.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>The other piece mentioned here is the accountability framework.&nbsp;
This part means that schools are selected to receive assistance based on
performance.&nbsp; The schools undergo an independent curriculum audit
and then each school develops a plan for improving student achievement.&nbsp;
The SFPS accountability framework exceeds the State’s requirements for
accountability.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I know now what I did not know six years ago, that teachers,
principals, administrators, all educators do know how to instruct children.&nbsp;
So even as we worked systematically on all the other big pieces I have
already mentioned, the educators with the support of the Board continued
to work on improving student achievement.&nbsp; Superintendent Garcia and
the Board plan to host community conversations about instruction so that
more community people will be able to see and be inspired and supportive
about the positive direction of instruction in this District.&nbsp; And
please understand that this slide is a very rudimentary representation
of what is happening in Instruction in this District.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>This address will not be complete without some mention
of the threat of privatizing what is a public service.&nbsp; For those
of you who are sitting on the fence on vouchers, I ask you to consider
what happened to the health care system when it became not health care
but managed care.&nbsp; It is now more complicated, more cumbersome, pharmaceuticals
are drastically more expensive and the choice of doctors and procedures
that are covered is more limited.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>And also look at what happened to the Prisons that have
been privatized.&nbsp; There has been no improvement in the financial picture
of the Corrections Department in New Mexico.&nbsp; In fact the Corrections
Department has just this year gone to the legislature requesting a massive
increase in funds so they can build yet another prison, a super-max prison.&nbsp;
Whose children are going to serve time in that&nbsp; prison?&nbsp; There
has also just been an agreement involving the Corrections Department, Santa
Fe County and the private Cornell Corrections Corporation.&nbsp; This agreement
will result in leasing to Cornell the old prison where the riot happened
and that facility will be reopened instead of torn down.&nbsp; Immigrants
convicted of crimes will serve time at this prison before they are deported.&nbsp;
The United States just this past month passed China, as the country that
has the most people in prison per capita.&nbsp; We all know that the number
of beds needed for prisons can be predicted accurately by the number of
3rd graders who cannot read.&nbsp; The insidious path for more and more
of our young people into prison is paved in part by privatized education,
by vouchers.&nbsp; Do not kid yourselves that privatized education will
result in better outcomes for the masses.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>Further, I truly believe that School Board members represent
the will of the community and my view of the will of this community includes
the next 2 Projects.&nbsp; The first project is the plan to build a constructed
wetlands as part of the redesigned SFHS.&nbsp; A constructed wetlands speaks
to education reform in the design and use of our school facilities. A constructed
wetlands can process grey and black waste water and can also serve as an
outdoor classroom. Wise water use is a fundamental educational issue for
our times.&nbsp; I believe it is the collective consciousness of this community
that our institutions must be smarter about how we use water. I am committed
to building a constructed wetlands that will support teaching and learning
at SFHS.&nbsp; This project must be driven by community will and not by
the school system.&nbsp; The school system knows all too well that good
ideas not properly supported and then dumped in the lap of public education
are doomed to fail.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>One of the numerous resources we have in Santa Fe is the
Southwest Wetlands Group which has designed and built over 350 wetlands
in this country and Mexico.&nbsp; SW Wetlands has offered to donate the
design for the SFHS constructed wetlands.&nbsp; I am inviting interested
community people to participate in a community conversation about this
topic on Monday March 20 here at the board room from 7 to 9 P.M.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>The second piece that is near and dear to the hearts of
untold numbers of people in this town is Food Service.&nbsp; SFPS Food
Service Department is run by a certified Food Service Director, we have
a Food Service Task Force, we have an organization called Cooking with
Kids that provides a model for integrating food service with the curriculum
in classrooms and we have a community wide consciousness about healthy
food that includes 4 health food markets, an exemplary farmers market,
world class restaurants and a thriving alternative health industry.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+1>&nbsp;</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+1>Many children today are growing up without having the
experience of the kitchen as the center of the home.&nbsp; In Santa Fe
we have the resources to make institutional food more acceptable.&nbsp;
Many of the solutions lie in training and some of the answers involve figuring
out how to get more locally grown foods included in the schools food purchasing
system.&nbsp; We have an existing Food Service Task Force and I invite
volunteers to assist in figuring out how to improve food service for all
our children.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>This address would not be complete without some discussion
of the PwC Management Analysis which I believe is a valuable tool for assisting
in reshaping how this district is managed.&nbsp; I keep reminding myself
that we have the good fortune to live in Santa Fe because in many other
communities in this country the money to pay for a management analysis
just would not have been there.&nbsp; As you can see from the slide, the
analysis deals with only 5 major areas of management. The report does not
touch instruction and there is nothing on transportation or food.&nbsp;
I really like the 250 page report itself and I carry it around with me
because just by holding this book up I can give people a sense of how complex
this institution really is. In terms of the PwC analysis, I think we would
all prefer some kind of instantaneous fix but the reality will be very
different.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>What will happen is some type of a Management Analysis
Implementation process. I am telling you now that working on the implementation
will take 30 of you (which may dwindle to 15) putting in 1 to 5 volunteer
years on a joint community/schools implementation body.&nbsp; Superintendent
Garcia, VP Ochoa and I along with Owen Lopez and other key community people
are currently developing the implementation process.&nbsp; Again, community
involvement for a long time is the key not only to the implementation of
the recommendations in this report but to the reform and reshaping of public
education in Santa Fe.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>The financial crisis, although painful, has provided a
tremendous opportunity for this community.&nbsp; Before the crisis, the
Board, administration, school building staff and involved community worked
as hard as we could to address the myriad issues involved in public education
in Santa Fe.&nbsp; The crisis brought out new people who had not been involved
before.&nbsp; There is now an Interest Based Bargaining Newsletter that
shows much more participation across all levels of school district employees
and the newsletter will help keep employees informed so they do not feel
shut out of the process.&nbsp; Members of St. Bede's Church are now volunteering
at Ortiz Middle School and they say the experience has changed their congregation.&nbsp;
Gregg Robinson who was already an active parent and community member called
me to express his extreme dismay at the financial situation and then asked
if there was anything positive he could work on.&nbsp; He is now involved
in the SFHS wetlands project.&nbsp; Gary Hinte and Carol Samuels from the
Unitarian Congregation and Claudette Sutton from Tumbleweeds came to our
first Board retreat after the state takeover and they have all three been
invaluable contributors at their local schools and district wide.&nbsp;
Also the PwC Management Analysis will be examined by the State Board of
Education to determine how it can be used to help fix things statewide.&nbsp;
The State Audit will hopefully assist in adjusting the financial interface
between all school districts and the state oversight agencies.&nbsp; The
Grand Jury will finally put to rest the lingering question of criminal
wrongdoing.&nbsp; Every cloud has a silver lining and yes this is a cloud
and the silver lining to me is very clear.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I urge that if you take nothing else from this address,
please recognize the moment that this community shares.&nbsp; Our protest
over the Santa Fe Public Schools is a collective and public matter.&nbsp;
Also recognize that we have vast resources available to us right here in
our town.&nbsp; This is not a community way out in the wild west.&nbsp;
This is Santa Fe.&nbsp; I recognize my own good fortune to live in this
community and to be on this Board of Education.&nbsp; One of the great
things about being on the school board is that with enough effort and open
mindedness, you really can see the possibilities for greatness.&nbsp; And
with enough experience you really can see what it is that must be supported
to continue the drive toward educational success for all our children.</FONT>

<P><FONT SIZE=+1>I for one will no longer take the attitude "we can't,
they won't, it will never happen, we're too poor, nobody cares, nobody
listens, I don’t trust them" or any number of other attitudes that are
aimed at failing not at succeeding.&nbsp; One of the great leaders of our
times Eleanor Roosevelt said “the future belongs to those who believe in
the beauty of their dreams.”&nbsp; I believe in the beauty of my dream
and my dream says that when we come together as a community, we can reform,
reshape, revision, revitalize our public schools so that all our children
can be guided to discover the wonder of learning in an atmosphere that
is loving and supportive not only of our children but of our entire community.&nbsp;
I invite you to share in that dream.&nbsp; Thank you for your time and
your attention but most of all thank you, each and every one of you for
your commitment to all our children.</FONT>
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