Danielle Gonzales says her Albuquerque Public Schools education served her well. But she also knows that not everyone can say the same.

She graduated from Valley High School, then went into education — first as a fourth-grade teacher in South Texas then working in education policy in Washington, D.C.

She and her family moved back to Albuquerque during the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021, Gonzales was elected to the APS Board of Education. She serves District 3, which includes the North Valley, Corrales and part of Downtown Albuquerque. Campuses in the district include Albuquerque, Del Norte and Valley high schools and their feeders, along with Digital Arts and Technology Academy and Cottonwood Classical charter schools.

Gonzales was elected APS school board president at the board’s Jan. 3 meeting.

Frustrated as a parent

The experience of seeing what was going on with her children’s education made her more aware of the need within APS.

“One of the stories that I’ve told a lot is that I had a sixth grader at an APS middle school,” Gonzales said. “And when I would see her Zoom instruction and her homework, she was doing fourth-grade math.”

She said she reached out and couldn’t get answers to her questions on whether her child was behind or if the entire class was behind or some other issues.

“I got no answer from the teacher,” Gonzales said. “I reached out to the principal; got no answer. I reached out to the district and I got no answer.”

She said she felt that if she, as someone with education, knowledge and privilege, couldn’t get the most basic information about her child’s education, other parents must have been having similar experiences.

Getting on board 

Gonzales said she chose to run for the school board to help make sure more students had experiences like she had. She said growing up in APS schools gave her an understanding of the culture of the area, while two decades away from Albuquerque helped her develop the ability to look at the district with the candid eye of an outsider.

“In some ways, it was very much what I expected,” Gonzales said. “And then there were also lots of surprises. I knew APS had work to do; I think what was most surprising is just how much work the district had to do.”

She said she spent much of the early part of her term working to put basic foundational pieces in place.

“The district did not have goals, did not have a strategic plan, did not have a method of aligning the budget to the goals,” she said. “Didn’t talk about student outcomes. We did not have a governance model for the board.”

The plan

Gonzales said she set out to start moving things in the right direction by getting a new strategic plan in place.

“Scott (Elder, APS’ outgoing superintendent) said we couldn’t do a strategic plan because we didn’t have money,” she said. “I went out and raised money. We hired a firm — Scott said we couldn’t do it. I helped us hire a firm.”

Gonzales said she put together a proposal for Elder and the other board members, and the APS Foundation then raised $200,000 for the plan, hiring Attuned Education Partners. The result was Emerging Stronger, a document plotting out goals for the district over the five-year period ending in May of 2028. The board adopted the plan early last year.

The goals are:

• Increasing proficiency in reading and math.

• Having more students complete advanced placement, International Baccalaureate or dual-credit courses or earn industry certifications or bilingual seals.

• Increasing the percentage of students who “demonstrate the skills, mindsets and habits most aligned to life success, perseverance, self-regulation, self-efficacy and social awareness.” 

The plan also lists rigorous instruction, clear expectations, engaged students and “responsive and coordinated systems” as strategic priorities. Elder had not responded to a request for comment about the development of the plan by publication time.

Goals accomplished and anticipated

Gonzales said Albuquerque is different from other places in that the schools are reflective of their communities and the languages, cultures and backgrounds of those communities.

The key to reinvigorating Albuquerque is tapping into the connections between families and communities and their schools, she said.

Gonzales said some of her goals for her tenure on the board have already been met. In addition to the new strategic plan, they include changes in the way APS budgets and more communication among district leaders on student outcomes.

The next step, she said, is improving those outcomes.

“And for me, when I say student outcomes, it’s not just academics, but it’s also all of the social and emotional (learning) and sense of belonging and making our schools safe, supportive and challenging,” Gonzales said. “That’s the hard work, but I believe we can do it.”

The board in February selected Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey to take over as superintendent July 1. Gonzales said the hire puts someone in charge who is committed to the changes the board wants to make.

She said she feels she was elected board president because of her background and experience, along with the work she has put in since being elected, chairing the policy committee and otherwise.

Gonzales said her concerns now include closing the gap in student outcomes between wealthy and white students and the majority of kids in APS, including those identified in the Yazzie-Martinez court decision, who tend to be Indigenous or impoverished and may have disabilities or be learning English.

A new era brings new perspectives

The November 2023 election brought three new members to the board, meaning that the entire seven-member panel is relatively new. Board members Gonzales, Crystal Tapia-Romero, Josefina Dominguez and Courtney Jackson were elected in 2021.

Gonzales said they and newer members Heather Benavidez, Janelle Astorga and Ronalda Tome-Warito all bring important perspectives to the board.

Tome-Warito is the group’s first Native American member; Astorga was elected at age 26, making her possibly its youngest member ever. Gonzales said she, Jackson and Tapia-Romero were the first board members in recent years with school-age children.

She said the new members and those they replaced were all committed to change.

“I think the difference is now there’s much more of a public mandate for that change,” she said. “I think for decades, it’s been easy to say, ‘we want our schools to be better,’ while also (bringing about) no improvement. Now, it’s not acceptable to just say, we want our schools to be better. We actually need to see them improve.”