Activist, ex-teachers, state dept. deputy secretary run for school board

Candidates vary on range of issues facing the board

Three Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education seats are on the ballot this November and candidates vary on items ranging from the biggest issues facing the district to whether superintendent applications should be open to the public.

Districts 1, 2 and 4 are on the ballot, with all three incumbents running. APS also has a $290 million mill levy, bond package it’s putting before voters on the same ballot.

Election Day for this year’s consolidated election, which means other entities, such as the city, will also have questions, is Nov. 5. The county opened early voting centers on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Candidates for the Board of Education include former teachers, a former accountant, a state department deputy secretary and a local activist.

In District 1, incumbent Yolanda Montoya-Cordova, a Democrat, was appointed to the board in fall of 2018. She followed Analee Maestas, who stepped down after then-state Auditor Tim Keller uncovered questionable transactions at the charter school she founded.

Montoya-Cordova currently works at the Department of Workforce Solutions as a deputy secretary and has a background in social work. She was raised in Albuquerque’s South Valley.

Three of her grandchildren attend APS schools.

Madelyn Jones, who did not respond to the Journal’s questionnaire, is running against Montoya-Cordova. In an APS question-and-answer form, Jones said she went to APS schools and her kids did, too. She also said that she has “44 years of business ownership experience.” Jones has participated in the South Area Advisory Council, Carrie Tingley Hospital Parent Council and the South Valley Chamber

of Commerce, according to the APS answers.

District 2

In District 2, incumbent Peggy MullerAragón, a Republican and native of Grants, has been on the board since 2015 and has worked on political campaigns since the ’80s. She is a retired public school teacher with 26 years of classroom experience.

Her opponent, Laurie Harris, a Democrat from Texas, also has classroom experience as a former teacher from 1990 to 2018 and was an accountant before going into teaching. Two of her children attended APS and two of her three grandchildren are enrolled in district schools.

District 4

The District 4 race originally brought in three hopefuls, but Laura Carlson told the Journal that she is not actively running for the board.

That leaves Barbara Petersen, a Democrat who has been on the board since 2015, and Verland Coker, a registered independent who leans Democrat.

Petersen was a teacher from 1974 to 2012. She says she is from Englewood, New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; and Arlington Heights, Illinois.

She is the mother of one daughter who attended district schools.

Coker has a brother with special needs who attends APS. His résumé includes “activist” and “various minimum wage jobs.”

He was born in Missouri and raised in Albuquerque for the past 16 years.

Superintendent applications

Superintendent Raquel Reedy announced she would be retiring and the current Board of Education said it’s aiming to get her replacement on board by July.

According to a Journal questionnaire, candidates diverge on whether applications for her replacement should be open to the public.

Montoya-Cordova, the incumbent running for District 1, thinks superintendent applications should not be released until “fully vetted.”

“Once a list of finalists is determined, I believe it is helpful for the public to know who is under consideration,” she said in a Journal questionnaire.

In District 2, Muller-Aragón thinks the opposite. When asked if the applications should be public, she said, “absolutely.”

Harris, also running for District 2, had a mixed response.

“I would support public applications if they are within legal boundaries and if it doesn’t deter some great candidates from applying,” she said.

In District 4, there’s another split. Verland Coker thought the applications should “absolutely” be public, whereas Barbara Petersen said public applications could discourage people from applying.

Issues facing APS

Finances, teacher vacancies and student achievement — these are some of the biggest issues candidates say APS is facing.

Montoya-Cordova said the biggest issues facing the district right now are academic gaps and low student performance. She said she supports targeted instruction and programs, including community schools and extended days.

Muller-Aragón thinks a big issue is that “adult self-interests” are put above students, saying kids should be the priority.

Harris noted the teacher vacancies in the state and district. She wants to focus on teacher retention.

Coker thinks the district needs to address what he called budget mismanagement and reevaluate where money is going.

Petersen said respect for teachers should be restored and there needs to be a bigger focus on instruction that is developmentally appropriate and inspiring for kids.

In an APS-commissioned poll done in July, low teacher salaries was the top issue in APS chosen by surveyors.

Top-heavy administration, the teacher shortage and funding not making it to the classroom were the other popular issues, respectively.

Union endorsements

After an interview process and a vote from its Federation Representative Council, the union Albuquerque Teachers Federation has made its endorsements.

Union support has a track record of wins. The majority of the current board are unionbacked candidates, including president David Peercy.

ATF President Ellen Bernstein told the Journal that each endorsed candidate got $5,000, and the union will phone bank and canvass for its picks.

For District 1, Montoya-Cordova got the endorsement. Bernstein said Montoya-Cordova is involved in her community and listens to constituents.

For District 2, the union pledged support for Harris, who was a treasurer for her union. Bernstein said in an email that Harris was chosen because she is familiar with issues facing the district and said her experience in accounting will be an asset to the budget process.

Petersen is the endorsed candidate for District 4. The union cited her education knowledge and called her a “true unionist” familiar with labor issues.

Jones, from District 1, and Muller-Aragón from District 2 did not seek endorsements, according to the organization.