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Principal Theresa Baca had a controversial plan to help long-struggling Polk Middle School: push out weak teachers who wouldn't commit to reforms.

Albuquerque Public Schools administrators had a different idea: Baca had to go.

After four years of trying to boost her South Valley school from failure to success, Baca's time ran out.

Her improvement plan was rejected, and she became one of a score of principals moved in a districtwide shuffle intended to boost achievement at struggling schools.

The disagreement at Polk comes as the state Education Department begins scrutinizing the improvement plans required of troubled schools.

But it also raises a crucial question: Should reform target the administrators or the teachers?

"We want schools to do something drastically different," said Karen Harvey, the assistant education secretary who will examine school improvement plans. "And changing the principal might not be enough."

Polk's original improvement plan was unique, Harvey said. No other school in New Mexico has been so bold as to suggest its problem teachers should go.

But it was not to be.

Instead, Baca and her assistant, Ben Bustos, became part of the principal shuffle.

"It's unpopular to say we're not doing enough for kids," Baca said Tuesday in an interview.

"My goal was to put kids first, and I was true to that," she said. "Not everybody at Polk was good for kids."

Some teachers and parents who supported Baca have protested her reassignment. Others are applauding district administrators for replacing her.

There is little argument that Polk needs help. All agree it's a struggling school with a fractured staff and students who need more.

Based on the latest test scores, 90 percent of Polk students were below grade level in math; 70 percent were below grade level in reading.

Baca said another year at Polk, with her improvement plan in place and full support of the staff, should have made a difference.

"Schools that have made drastic moves have shown that, even in one year, there is significant success," she said.

District officials say the principal shuffle is intended to bring up scores at schools such as Polk, which failed to make adequate yearly progress for three of the four years Baca was in charge.

"We're hoping all these changes will raise student achievement," said Nelinda Venegas, the associate superintendent who oversaw the shuffle and stands behind the changes at Polk.

She said Baca's plan to remove teachers would go against the union contract. "We need to bring that staff together," Venegas said.

Venegas submitted a revised improvement plan to the state that calls for negotiations with the union before staffing changes are made.

Baca had four years to unite the staff and build relationships, Venegas said, "but it didn't change."

Incoming Polk Principal Eva Vigil, a 16-year veteran administrator who was principal at Kit Carson Elementary, said she will go to Polk with an open mind.

"I'm ready for the challenge," she said. "I'm not one to shy away."

Vigil was unaware of Baca's plan to replace teachers and the district's decision to reject it.

"I will see what I need to do for children," she said. "Our job is to make teachers successful so that our children will be successful. That's the way we're supposed to do it."

Baca was reassigned to an assistant principal's position at Highland High School, although she has no experience at the high school level. Bustos was hired as the assistant principal at Jefferson Middle School.

Historically, Polk has had high turnover of principals and teachers. Baca's hiring in 2003 made her the fifth principal in six years, but she was optimistic she could bring stability to the school and improve academic performance.

"We have pockets of success at Polk," Baca said, "but there weren't enough to make a difference for all kids. Instruction was not what it should be in all classrooms, and that doesn't feel good."

Friday is the deadline for submitting improvement plans for all low performing schools, including Polk, to the state Public Education Department.

Harvey, the assistant education secretary for quality assurance and systems integration, will decide whether the plans are substantial enough to boost student performance.

Around the state, removal of the principal and assistant principal has been "the first step they've chosen to take" toward school improvement, Harvey said.

She said an experienced principal is a "piece of the puzzle," but not the cure-all for a failing school.

"The school plans will not be approved if there are not drastic changes," she said.

Schools will find out the third week in July whether the state agrees with their plans.

No school in New Mexico has replaced its entire staff, Harvey said.

Under Baca's plan, only those teachers who did not sign a letter of commitment to the improvement plan would have been asked to leave the school. They would be allowed to transfer to another school.

Some of the strongest supporters of the plan are leaving Polk, math teacher Peter Carrellas said.

"I was really looking forward to the plan because the No. 1 thing we wanted to do was instill high expectations for our students," he said.

"Polk has been very low achieving for a long time. Attitudes have to change, but there is a larger group of teachers who felt we shouldn't change anything," Carrellas said.

Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein said the Polk plan would have had more support had Baca involved all teachers and addressed job security in detail.

Teachers weren't "anti-principal or anti-plan," Bernstein said. "Teachers didn't have information and were asking legitimate professional questions."

Parents said they were more interested in improving instruction at Polk than protecting teachers' jobs.

"I think that is very unfair not to allow her (Baca) to put her plan to work," said Polk parent Mary Trujillo-Coca, mother of an eighth-grader.

"Miss Baca should have been given the chance to see if her plan would work."