One should look at Mrs. Renteria’s success objectively.
Accomplished. A recent APS portrait acknowledges Pam Renteria’s entire 27-year career was driven by a passion for providing Alamogordo students with opportunities to thrive academically and personally.
Second, although her career path is interesting, one must examine whether her passion for providing students with academic opportunities allowed them to thrive personally. If we agree that a meaningful academic foundation is a vital factor in thriving personally, a brief assessment of the Alamogordo Public School standings presents a guiding signal.
New Mexico’s educational rankings are arguably unsettled at one level because the various ranking systems differ. However, their common outcome is that New Mexico districts rate last regardless of whether Puerto Rico and DC get included in the assessment. 50th when only the States are measured, 51st if Puerto Rico is added, and 52nd if DC is included.
At the local level, APS often reported its ranking as #3 in the state; their careful selection and minimal mention of the assessment categories require explanation. For example, all agree that APS is rated well when examining only the largest NM districts. Reporting #3 of a select number of large districts was clever.
It is also true that APS is the 3rd largest employer among NM districts. Good to know, and a clever means to make us believe we should be Wild in The Streets shouting We’re #3! It is also accurate to report that APS remains #3 among the local area school districts: Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, and Tularosa. But realistic accounting, such as holding 3rd place out of 3 participants, can also get reported as finishing in ‘Last’ place. But that statement sounds poorly.
Other assessment approaches result in equally accurate but more problematic portraits. For example, when contrasted against the approximately 85 NM districts evaluated, APS is placed at #69. The only good news is that Alamogordo isn’t ‘Last.’ A critical takeaway, however, is that it is nearly last.
APS is nearly last in a state that remains dead last in the nation. Holding an overall district ranking that is among the last, within the dead last state, does not represent a meaningful academic foundation. The better view, a realistically helpful assessment, would find that Mrs. Renteria’s entire 27-year passionate career failed to succeed at building the educational opportunities for students to thrive personally.
Pam Renteria moves from being a part of the problem to conducting the problem.
Best of Luck, Alamogordo
By Fred Stong – Guest Contributor
