Albuquerque Public Schools swore in four new members to its board of education on Wednesday. The body is seeing historic shifts – not only with its first all-female board, but also with three new members who could push it in a new direction.
Newcomers Danielle Gonzales, Crystal Tapia-Romero, Josefina Domínguez, and Courtney Jackson joined the three incumbent members on the board, which represents about 84,000 students in the state’s largest school district.
Gonzales is the only Democrat and a former teacher. She said her constituents were clear about what they want.
"I heard a desire for more focus on teaching and
learning, focus on the social and emotional dimensions of learning, more attention to culturally and linguistically and responsive practices and a call for much more accountability and transparency in district operations, said Gonzales
Three of the four new members won without union support, a big change from past races. But support did come from business interests. That’s according to Source New Mexico, which also reported the Bernalillo County Republican Party supported Jackson and Tapia-Romero, indicating a possible conservative shift.
The board now will move on to make decisions about masking policies and other related issues as COVID cases surge, and how to allocate federal funds for pandemic recovery.
Support for KUNM’s public health coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and from listeners like you.
