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APS insiders compete for superintendent job
Insider track
Here are current Albuquerque Public Schools administrators bidding to be superintendent, along with things that might help or hurt them with the Board of Education:
LINDA SINK
Current job: Interim superintendent and associate superintendent for instruction.
Strengths: Won Albuquerque Board of Education's unanimous endorsement for interim job, product of APS and has children in APS schools, respected as principal and instructional leader.
Weaknesses: New to district administration, no doctorate, no elementary experience, sometimes seen as heavy-handed.
DIEGO GALLEGOS
Current job: Assistant superintendent for continuous improvement.
Strengths: 29 years as school administrator, former member of the Albuquerque Board of Education, finalist for state secretary of education, deep roots in South Valley politics.
Weaknesses: Never served as a principal, passed over previously for the superintendent's post, deep roots in South Valley politics.
TOM RYAN
Current job: Executive director of technology.
Strengths: Eight years on superintendent's Cabinet, former principal and teacher, 27 years in APS, doctorate in curriculum.
Weaknesses: Lacks business experience and experience at the superintendent level, limited time in principalship, low-key computer guy.
TIM WHALEN
Current job: Manzano High School principal and cluster leader.
Strengths: Good communicator and mediator, popular with parents, 35 years in APS, senior principal, district cheerleader.
Weaknesses: Lacks experience at the superintendent level, not cozy with teachers' union, no doctorate, behind-the-scenes critic of district bureaucracy.
MIKE BACHICHA
Current job: Sandia High School principal.
Strengths: 32 years in district; experience at elementary, middle school and high school levels; open door for parents; improved academic performance.
Weaknesses: Occasional critic of district policies, no doctorate, no district-level experience.
ALLAN HOLMQUIST
Current job: Chelwood Elementary School principal.
Strengths: Respected leader among elementary principals, business savvy, doctorate, good listener, popular with teachers and parents, 30 years as principal at five schools.
Weaknesses: Critical of top administration for not seeking input from educators in the field, finalist twice for superintendent-level jobs but was not chosen, take-charge guy who is not always seen as a team player.
Key dates
Tuesday: Deadline for applications, although a search consultant says materials received after the closing date may be given full consideration.
Feb. 29: 6 p.m. meeting of search committee with consultant for orientation on screening process.
March 1: 8 a.m. search committee selects finalists to recommend to the Albuquerque Board of Education; noon or later, board announces finalists.
March 7: Finalists meet with community groups: 6:45 a.m. student leaders, noon business and government, 5 p.m. district employees, 7 p.m. parents.
No specific date: On-site visits to candidates' home districts, discussion of contract terms with finalist, contract offer and announcement of new superintendent.
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On the surface, the campaigning for superintendent seems low-key and polite among the three top administrators in Albuquerque Public Schools who want the job.
They smile a lot, wear new dark suits and listen intently to the members of the Albuquerque Board of Education who might pick one of them.
"Terribly friendly" is how a senior board member describes them with the board.
Another board member is more blunt: "They are most definitely posturing."
Apparently, the candidates want the board to take notice of their leadership styles and their determination to be included on the short list of candidates that will be forwarded to the board on March 1.
Behind the scenes, there's quiet grumbling and snipping directed at the only woman in the race, because she seems to be thriving in the interim superintendency.
While they won't say so on the record, challengers to Interim Superintendent Linda Sink feel she has had an unfair advantage ever since she won unanimous support from the board and took over the district in December. Sink replaced former Superintendent Beth Everitt, who left for a job in South Carolina.
Understandably, Sink's competitors are worried about their chances at the job.
By everyone's estimation, except maybe Sink's, she's the front-runner and finding favor with the board.
Board members, however, are trying to reduce fears that Sink has their vote. Some have stressed the need to look outside the district for qualified applicants.
Robert Lucero, the most vocal board member on the search, is pushing for a local candidate to rise to the top, but he's emphatic that Sink is not a shoo-in.
"Everybody has a good shot at it," he said of the top job with an advertised salary cap of $260,000.
"The board has been very impressed with Linda, no question about it, but everybody is going to let the process run its course."
As of Friday, Lucero said APS had received about a dozen applicants. Longtime school district observers say the list could include the likes of Milton Baca, a retired West Mesa High principal, and Public Education Department Charter School Director Don Duran.
South Valley board member Dolores Griego said she is putting a lot of confidence in the 27-member selection committee to identify the strongest finalists.
The committee, she said, "takes the weight off" the board. "I'm going to listen to the committee and follow the process. We have to."
Board President Paula Maes has also expressed appreciation for the committee and has warned "we cannot compromise this process."
The turning point in the process is Tuesday, the postmark deadline for applications for superintendent.
The committee will submit its list of finalists to the board on March 1, at which time a list of all the applicants will be released to the public, Maes said.
Applicants who do not want their names revealed will likely drop out of the pool, she said.
