Brian Tierney

Brian Tierney

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Brian Tierney was a candidate for District 7 representative on the Albuquerque Public Schools school board in New Mexico. Tierney was defeated in the by-district general election on February 7, 2017.

Elections

2017

See also: Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2017)

Four of the seven seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on February 7, 2017. In his bid for re-election to District 3, incumbent Lorenzo Garcia defeated challengers Ali Ennenga, Amy Legant, and Charles White. District 5 incumbent Steven Michael Quezada and District 6 incumbent Don Duran did not file to run for re-election, leaving both seats open for newcomers. Four candidates—Annie Bell-Rahman, Rachel Gonzales, Kayla Marshall, and Candelaria Patterson—ran for the District 5 seat, and Patterson won the race. Six candidates—Abbas Ali Akhil, Elizabeth Armijo, C. Douglas Brown, Melissa Finch, Paula Maes, and Paul Sievert—ran for the District 6 seat, and Armijo won. The race for the District 7 seat featured incumbent David Peercy and challengers Ian Burch, William Steinberg, and Brian Tierney. Peercy won re-election to the board. A total of six candidates withdrew from the race before their names were put on the ballot: R. Jason Vaillancourt in District 3, Than-Lan Sena, Alex Villanueva, and Anne Young in District 5, Stephen Verchinski in District 6, and Sina-Aurelia Pleasant-Soul in District 7.

Results

Albuquerque Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
David Peercy Incumbent	64.04%	4,219
Brian Tierney	26.85%	1,769
William Steinberg	4.58%	302
Ian Burch	4.52%	298
Total Votes		6,588
Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017," accessed February 22, 2017 and Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election was certified Friday, Feb. 10th, 2017," February 13, 2017

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in the Albuquerque Public Schools election

Tierney reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Mexico Secretary of State in the election.

Campaign themes

2017

Tierney participated in a questionnaire provided by the Albuquerque school district. The district's questions are shown in bolded text, and Tierney's answers follow below.

1. Why do you want to be a board member for Albuquerque Public Schools?

“	(Please go to www.tierneyforAPSBoard.com for details.) My passion for education, my work & military experience (US Army Reserve, Airborne (paratrooper) Qualified All-Source Intelligence Officer; presently in the I.R.R.), and my life experience (married 15+ years, two children), have provided me with the requisite leadership attributes necessary to be an effective board member. Aside from professional obligations, I believe that citizens have civic responsibilities, and I possess the political acumen necessary for navigating the complex working relationships and cultural dynamics that exist in a school system as large as APS. Most importantly, as a parent of two APS students, the actions of the APS Board are deeply personal to me. Furthermore, the Board has shown frequent disrespect toward the meaningful education of our children, the citizens who elect them, and the teachers who bear the brunt of their mismanagement. Most egregiously, the Board has jeopardized child safety by pandering to misguided people who want to let boys use the girls' bathrooms. If elected to the Board, I will do my utmost to be a voice for reason on the Board, and will fight for the following objectives: (1) End Common Core. Restore local control! (2) Establish fiscal transparency of the APS budget and bureaucracy. (3) Institute parent and citizen collaboration with the Board. (4) Empower teachers by giving them more autonomy over their curriculum. Allow them to more easily remove chronically disruptive students from their classrooms! (5) Fight for smaller class sizes and fewer administrative tasks for teachers which keep them from teaching and grading. We can accomplish this by carefully re-allocating funds wasted on superfluous projects and by instilling a culture in APS that better respects teachers' time. (6) Keep the boys out of the girls' bathroom and vice versa!	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

2. What is your interest in education?

“	It is imperative that we instill a culture of learning in America's greatest asset, our children, and provide opportunities not only for the college bound, but for those who seek a trade and those with special needs. Personally, since I was five years old or younger, I have always been fascinated with scientific discovery; a love for asking questions and a passion for seeking answers. "Why does it work this way?" and "How does it work?" are questions I ask myself every day as regards a variety of subjects. Accordingly, I am determined to conduct my actions as a Board Member so as to instill that curiosity and passion for learning in all APS students, no matter what their specific interest: academic pursuits, the skilled trades, studying music or art, or learning the importance of physical fitness.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

3. In what ways will you support the mission and vision of the district?

“	Presently, the Board provides no vision for the district. Rather, it panders to special interest groups that jeopardize the safety of children, and it squanders tax dollars on wasteful capital projects - money that could be used to alleviate the excessive administrative burdens placed on teachers. If elected to the Board, I will fight for a vision that includes more local control of our schools, empowerment of teachers (end Common Core!), greater parental involvement, and accountability to the citizen-taxpayers that fund the district.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

4. How will you work with the superintendent?

“	I will always extend professional courtesy to all employees of the district, including the superintendent. However, it is the duty of each Board Member to ensure that the superintendent, a paid employee of the Board, executes the will of the Board. In turn, the Board must faithfully represent the citizens. Ideally, a relationship of mutual respect must exist in which the Board also seeks the frequent council of the superintendent, an individual who must be chosen based on prior experience as a competent administrator.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

5. What is your past and current involvement with Albuquerque Public Schools?

“	I am a concerned parent of two young APS students.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

6. What should be the relationship between the superintendent and Board of Education?

“	See answer to question 4.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

7. What qualities and skills would you bring to the Board of Education?

“	As mentioned in question 1, my passion for education, my work and military experience, and my other life experiences have provided me with the requisite leadership attributes necessary to be an effective board member. In particular, (1) I am passionate about education. I hold a PhD in EE (device physics) and want to instill that passion in our youth. (2) I understand the complex political dimensions associated with managing a budget of approximately 1.3 billion dollars. (3) I have the wisdom to recognize and utilize the expertise of others (e.g., teachers and effective administrators) and delegate necessary authority, while maintaining ultimate responsibility and accountability to my fellow citizens as a Board Member.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

8. What school or community volunteer activities have you participated in related to the community?

“	I currently serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Tea Party and as a local GOP ward secretary. As an Albuquerque Tea Party Board Member, I have organized and hosted several public functions such as local candidate forums and voter registration drives. Furthermore, I frequently volunteer in support of my children's activities (e.g., serving as parental leader of Cub Scout Den activities such as lessons on science, engineering, and citizenship; serving as a science fair volunteer.)	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

9. How do you plan to work with constituents?

“	Active citizen/constituent engagement and feedback is crucial to the success of all APS students. The Board does not presently respect such participation. For example, what little citizen feedback exists at Board meetings is not welcome, highly regulated, and typically results in no meaningful discussion between Board Members and the citizens who elect them.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

10. What do you see as opportunities and challenges to the district?

“	APS needs to do a much better job of tapping into the wealth of professional knowledge in the community that could assist in the education of all APS students. Albuquerque and the surrounding area are home to thousands of fine American scientists, engineers, skilled craftsmen, artists, and outstanding military personnel. These professionals are affiliated with Kirtland AFB, Sandia National Laboratories, UNM, Intel Corporation and other employers. APS does not effectively leverage the leadership that could be provided by such a talented, dedicated population of professionals.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

11. What do you think is the best way for the district to accomplish the three academic goals?

a. Early learning - Early learning begins with expecting parents, is nurtured as children develop language and number skills in elementary school, and grows with students as they mature in supportive classrooms becoming adept at using these skills in a variety of contexts.

“	Brian Tierney's response: APS should only hire the smartest, most dedicated, and caring elementary school teachers in the state. Then, pay them well! Incidentally, the lack of proper and consistent English usage in the above question is an embarrassing and clear example that it is time to 'clean up the mess that is APS!'	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

b. College and Career Readiness - Students acquire skills which support formal and informal life-long learning to adapt and remain productive through changing economic and job market landscapes. All students will be prepared for postsecondary opportunities (college and/or career) without the need for remediation.

“	Brian Tierney's response: Automatic promotion needs to be stopped if the achievement of a high school diploma is to signify any meaningful acquisition of knowledge. The job of a college, university, or post-secondary trade school, should not be to provide remedial training of basic mathematics and English skills.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

c. Developing the Whole Child - APS will ensure each child is safe, engaged, challenged and supported through programs and practices focused on removing social, emotional and physical barriers to learning and increased health literacy.

• Safe and welcoming environment
• Whole Child includes ... physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual
• Remove barriers to learning
• Discover and develop individual gifts and talents
• Use skills to better the community

“	Brian Tierney's response: Such goals have a better chance of being achieved by better respecting and encouraging greater parental involvement. Furthermore, a safe learning environment can only be achieved by never tolerating threats and assaults against teachers. Finally, keep the boys out of the girls' bathrooms and vice versa! [The fact that I make such a final statement is indicative of a complete lack of common sense and understanding of human nature exhibited by some members of the APS Board and administration.]	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

12. If elected, how will you work with the current board?

“	I will always extend professional courtesy to all Board members and respect the law, even if I disagree with it. However, I will always fight in support of the citizens who are my constituents. Ultimately, I will serve for them, and not other individual Board Members.	”
—Brian Tierney (2017)

What was at stake?

2017

Election trends

See also: School board elections, 2015

With an average of 4.5 candidates running per seat on the ballot in 2017, the race to determine the next members of the Albuquerque Board of Education had a higher turnout than the district's 2013 and 2015 races. “I have never seen it fill up like this,” said Jaime Diaz, deputy county clerk for Bernalillo County. A total of 24 candidates originally filed to run in the race, for an average of six candidates per seat, but six of them withdrew before their names were put on the ballot.

Two newcomers were elected to the board in 2017, winning two open seats. Both incumbents who ran to retain their seats in 2017 won re-election to the board. Incumbents did not have a 100 percent re-election rate in 2013 or 2015.

School board election trends
Year	Candidates per seat	Unopposed seats	Incumbent success rate	Seats won by newcomers
Albuquerque Public Schools
2017	4.50	0.00%	100.00%	50.00%
2015	3.33	0.00%	50.00%	66.67%
2013	2.5	25.00%	66.67%	50.00%
New Mexico
2015	2.05	30.00%	64.29%	50.00%
United States
2015	1.72	35.95%	82.66%	40.81%

Issues in the election

Candidate forums

Candidates in this election participated in candidate forums for each district seat in January 2017. Videos of the forums can be found below, with the forum for District 3 starting on the left and continuing in numerical order with the forum for District 7 on the right.

Issues in the district

Bill splitting district into three introduced in state Senate

New Mexico Senate Bill 89, which sought to limit the size of school districts in the state to 40,000 students, was introduced in the state Senate in January 2017 and referred to the Senate Education Committee. The bill did not leave committee before the regular 2017 session ended on March 18, 2017. If it had passed, the bill would have only affected Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), which, as the state's largest school district, served 93,001 students during the 2014-2015 school year. It would have required APS to split into three separate districts.

State Rep. David Adkins (R-29), a proponent of the bill, said multiple, smaller districts would improve education and let the community be more involved. “It would make it easier for the superintendents of the school districts to really implement the vision, implement the changes that need to happen at a district level but it would be focused on the geographic areas,” said Adkins.

Albuquerque Board of Education President David Peercy, who won re-election on February 7, 2017, said he had concerns about the bill. He was specifically concerned with equity, transportation, and funding issues if the district was split into three separate districts. “I think it would create equity problems at our schools. Equity from a financial like capital debt. It would create equity problem from education,” said Peercy.

Albuquerque Superintendent Raquel Reedy said SB 89 was "hard for me to even fathom." She said she thought it would do more harm than good. “I was surprised that it came up because frankly, I see the city of Albuquerque being impacted in a way that would divide the city,” said Reedy.

Though she said she understood the problems associated with a large school district, Reedy proposed a different solution. Instead of breaking up the school district, she suggested having associate superintendents assigned to a small number of specific schools. Those associate superintendents would then report back to the district's administration. “I want that kind of rich dialogue to take place and if we do it consistently and we will across the board, you will have that and it will help our students as they go from level to level,” said Reedy.

Adkins said he believed splitting up the district would bring more accountability and save money long term. "It’ll get more money into the classrooms. Less administration will be needed because they will be smaller districts,” said Adkins.

See also

• Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
• Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2017)

External links

Suggest a link

• Albuquerque Public Schools
• Campaign website