The Big Picture, Part One - Meet the Aguirres

We all know - from photos, tv, etc - what a pixel is.  It's a tiny picture element - a point - to a larger picture.  You can't tell from one pixel what the picture is.

Lately, I have been seeing several notable series of pixels that seem to be gathering speed to create the big picture.  This is a profile of one of those pixels.

The big picture that I see gathering speed is that this district is being set-up for a transformation.  I would say set up for a fall but mostly a picture seems to be forming so that the district can look like it's in very bad condition but, simultaneously, that it's nobody in senior leadership's fault.  (Yes, that's quite the feat but I think that's how it's going to get played).

I believe our district is being set-up to be taken over, at some point, by the Mayor and others in power in the city. 

 I think - like Bill Gates - they are frustrated (and, in some cases, rightly so) with the pace of student academic gains in SPS and think they could do better.  And, like Bill Gates, they are going to find out just how hard it truly difficult it will be to do better.

One of these pieces is the Mayor's recent two-fer hire of Jesus Aguirre for the head of Parks and his wife, Monica Liang-Aguirre, as the City's new Director of Early Learning.  He will be making about $190K and she will be making about $130K.  He starts June 1st and she will start in July to launch the new pre-K program. 

It's not just that they are married.  I'm sure there are many married couples within city/county government.  It's their previous work backgrounds that perked up my radar.

Both were in Teach for America.  Both then worked for Teach for America after their teaching "careers" ended.


In 1995, they started one of the first charter schools in Phoenix called Tertulia Pre-College Community.  Their charter seemed to have had a number of state dings over a steady period.  Then, in 2006, for "personal reasons" they left Phoenix to move to Washington, D.C.  Oddly, Mr. Aguirre was still named on charter documents as the president of their charter board.

He said this in 2013 in the Greater Greater Education blog in Washington, D. C.:

"Although we were still technically on the board of directors and the charter holders," Aguirre said in an email, "we regrettably were not involved in the day-to-day management of the school and were not able to truly support the school's new leader." 

It almost sounds like they abandoned it.

When the school's 15-year charter expired in 2010, the Arizona charter school board declined to renew it, citing poor academic progress, failure to timely submit financial audits, and failure to comply with monitoring and reporting requirements for federal money.

Interestingly, Mr. Aguirre makes no mention of his charter school experience on his LinkedIn page.   Ms. Aguirre, on her LinkedIn page, also makes no mention of her charter school experience.   As well, the City's press releases on their appointment/hire makes no mention their charter school experience.  It was ten years of their professional lives so why no mention by anyone?

When the Aguirres moved to Washington, D.C., according to Joel Connelly in the PI, he worked "as part of a transition team leading to the tenure of controversial school chancellor Michelle Rhee."

He worked in the D.C. schools as director of operations until 2009 when he was appointed by then- Mayor Fenty to head that city's parks department.  

Then, in 2013, it was back to education when he was named the D.C.'s superintendent of education.  From Seattle Weekly's article:

Mulling his appointment as schools super, D.C. council members criticized him for the Arizona school failure and lack of management skills, for example. He was nonetheless approved. It might seem surprising he and his wife would end up in Seattle, given his pitch to the D.C. council in 2013 for the supe’s job. 

“We love this city,” Aguirre said, “and look forward to continuing to raise our children here and to staying engaged in education and public service for years to come.”

And now, less than two years later, Mr. Aguirre has left the city he loves to go back to the western part of the U.S.  The Mayor claims it was just "fate" that he happened to have jobs just made for their skill sets.

Ms. Aguirre had been a principal of an elementary school in Washington, D. C. and here's what she wrote to her school community a little over a year ago:

At this point, my next professional steps are not yet fully set. I've been selected to participate in a School System Leadership Fellowship that will support my growth as I engage in a senior level leadership position in an urban school district. I expect to have confirmation of my new position within the next month and it is my sincere hope to stay in DC and continue working on behalf of the children in DCPS, where the work is far from done, but where I continue to be inspired by the vision and leadership. I also plan on remaining a part of the Oyster-Adams community as a parent of a middle school student for the next three years, and look forward to remaining connected with you all in this capacity. 

That "School System Leadership Fellowship?"  It's a TFA program.  (It's very much like the Broad "leadership" program where a Fellow gets a full-time paid job in a school district leadership role. Ms. Aguirre is pictured in the 2014 class but the Mayor's press release says that she is currently the Deputy Chief of the Early Childhood Education Division for D.C. schools so I'm thinking she did not follow-thru with the TFA program.)

Also interesting is that on her Twitter page, she's gotten right on-board with Seattle and follows the Mariners, Mayor Murray and Seattle's Child.

Also from the Seattle Weekly:

Chief of the Early Childhood Education Division for the District of Columbia Public Schools - See more at: http://murray.seattle.gov/monica-liang-aguirre-named-seattles-early-learning-director/#sthash.8EPjbO7D.dpuf

Chief of the Early Childhood Education Division for the District of Columbia Public Schools - See more at: http://murray.seattle.gov/monica-liang-aguirre-named-seattles-early-learning-director/#sthash.8EPjbO7D.dpuf

Chief of the Early Childhood Education Division for the District of Columbia Public Schools - See more at: http://murray.seattle.gov/monica-liang-aguirre-named-seattles-early-learning-director/#sthash.8EPjbO7D.dpufChef of the Early Childhood Education Division in D.C. schools.  I'm guessing she did not go thru the TFA process.

Two independent panels made two independent recommendations to hire the two of them, said mayoral press secretary Jason Kelly. 

“Both candidates were considered purely on their merits,” he insisted. There was “no connection between an offer to one spouse and an offer to the other.” 

That statement that there was no connection between the two hires may be true. What is also true is that when City Councilman Tim Burgess went on his famous multi-city tour of preschools, he had a stop in Washington, D. C.   Maybe he just happened to meet one or both of the Aguirres. 

Mayor Murray said nothing against the bill that was brought forth during this Legislative session to allow for the mayor in a city with a large school district to appoint some of the members of the school board. 

And now he just happens to have found and hired two ex-TFAers who ran a charter school and then who worked under Michelle Rhee and, at least one of them, has aspirations to be high up the food chain in an urban school district. 

I'm sure it's all just a big coincidence.