Analee Maestas

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Analee Maestas

Prior offices

Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education District 1

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Education

Bachelor's

University of New Mexico

Graduate

University of New Mexico

Ph.D

University of New Mexico

Personal

Profession

Charter school executive director

Analee Maestas was the District 1 representative on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education in New Mexico. She resigned from the board on October 10, 2017.

Maestas resigned after a recall effort was organized against her. In September 2017, the New Mexico State Auditor released a report claiming that nearly $700,000 had been embezzled from La Promesa Early Learning Center, a charter school Maestas founded in 2008 and where she served as executive director until 2016. Maestas denied any knowledge of financial mismanagement, and her lawyer said that the report did not show evidence that Maestas had participated in the alleged embezzlement.

See also: Analee Maestas recall, Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico (2017)

Biography

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Maestas was the executive director of La Promesa Early Learning Center Charter School. Beginning her career in education as an educational assistant in 1974, Maestas went on to serve in a number of roles including classroom teacher, special education teacher, assistant principal, principal, and professor. She earned four degrees from the University of New Mexico: a bachelor's degree in elementary education (1975), a master's degree in remedial reading/second language acquisition (1983), a master's degree in special education (1988), and a Ph.D. in special education (1995). Maestas and her husband have four daughters and a number of grandchildren.

Elections

2015

See also: Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2015)

The election in Albuquerque Public Schools featured three of seven total seats up for general election on February 3, 2015. The seats from Districts 1, 2 and 4 were up for re-election.

Incumbent Analee Maestas faced two challengers for the District 1 seat, Colt Balok and Madelyn Jones, and won re-election. In District 2, incumbent Kathy Korte faced only one challenger, Peggy L. Muller-Aragon. Muller-Aragon defeated Korte to take a seat on the board. District 4 incumbent Martin Esquivel did not seek re-election, leaving the seat open for a newcomer. Five candidates, Sina-Aurelia Pleasant Soul-Bowe, Mark Gilboard, John Jake Lopez, Charles MacQuigg and Barbara Petersen, filed to run for that open seat. James Osborn also originally filed to run for the District 4 seat, but he withdrew his candidacy. Petersen defeated her fellow candidates to become the next District 4 representative on the board.

Results

Albuquerque Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Analee Maestas Incumbent	72.5%	453
	Nonpartisan	Madelyn Jones	17.1%	107
	Nonpartisan	Colt Balok	10.4%	65
Total Votes				625
Source: Abbey Smith, "Email communication with the Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections," February 26, 2015

Funding

The New Mexico Secretary of State's Office requires school board candidates in districts with an enrollment of 12,000 students or more to file an annual report each year. Candidates running for a seat on this district's school board had to file that annual report by April 13, 2015.

Endorsements

Maestas was endorsed by the Albuquerque Teachers Federation.

2011

Albuquerque Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Analee N. Maestas	45.8%	695
	Nonpartisan	Jay K. Zook	17%	258
	Nonpartisan	Clara A. Pena	15.1%	229
	Nonpartisan	Dolores A. Griego Incumbent	12.7%	193
	Nonpartisan	Phillip G. Chavez	9.5%	144
Total Votes				1,519
Source: Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections, "Election Results for APS/CNM District Election 2011," accessed December 16, 2014

Campaign themes

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

Maestas participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	Selection of the BEST superintendent. Develop critical partnerships to ensure schools are receiving every support needed to complete educational goals for every child. Continue to advocate for community schools Continue to advocate for equity in our schools Continue to eliminate the achievement gap Balanced budget but based on district priorities Support implementation of more Pre-K Adequate PD for staff	”
—Analee Maestas (2015)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Education policy
Click here to learn more about education policy in New Mexico.
Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Closing the achievement gap
2	Expanding school choice options
3	Improving education for special needs students
4	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
5	Improving college readiness
6	Expanding arts education
7	Expanding career-technical education

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column, and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question	Response
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?	"They should be implemented."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?	"Yes."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?	"No."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?	"Yes."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?	"More Pre-K programs Equitable funding based on student need. Use of community schools to support student social barriers affecting academic success. Inclusion of ethnic studies Address truancy issues Parent engagement"
How should expulsion be used in the district?	"Expulsion should never be an option."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?	"Equitable funding is available Ensure parent engagement is occurring Research best practices for turnaround schools and implement best practices Provide adequate PD Support the school in the implementation of best practices on a specific timeline, reviewing data regularly"
Do you support merit pay for teachers?	"Yes."
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?	"Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?	"Provide more opportunities for dialog rather than short 1 minutes listening sessions. Provide more opportunities to have more community based forums."

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Analee + Maestas + Albuquerque + Public + Schools"

Analee Maestas News Feed

See also

• Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
• Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2015)
• New Mexico school board elections attract numerous educators as candidates (January 23, 2015)
• New faces to join all of New Mexico's largest school district boards (February 4, 2015)

External links

Suggest a link

• Albuquerque Public Schools
• Office website
• LinkedIn page