Voters Re-elect Esquivel; Choose Two New APS Board of Education Members

February 3, 2011

Albuquerque voters re-elected current APS Board of Education President Marty Esquivel and chose two new board members in the election held Feb. 2.

Esquivel was re-elected to a second term in District 4, which includes the center of the city and the downtown area. According to unofficial results from the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office, Esquivel received about 51 percent of the vote, defeating candidates Cheryl Ann Harris, Candido Archuleta and Charles MacQuigg.

Elected in District 1, which covers the South Valley, was Analee Maestas with about 46 percent of the vote. Maestas defeated incumbent Dolores Griego as well as candidates Jay Zook, Clara Peña and Phillip Chavez.

Elected in District 2, which includes the northwest area of the city, was Katherine Korte with about 40 percent of the vote. She defeated candidates Peter Sanchez, John Herrera, Greg Snyder and Felix Nuñez.

The new board members will be sworn in at the March 2 Board of Education meeting.

This will be the second term for Esquivel, an Albuquerque attorney. Esquivel said he wants to continue working on improving student achievement. “Let’s face it: At the end of the day, that’s what we’re all most concerned about,” he wrote in a questionnaire that all candidates were asked to fill out. “I’m happy to say that the district has improved its graduation rate in the past four years, and I’m confident the trend will continue. But bridging the achievement gap in our schools…is the utmost importance to me.”

Maestas, who is the executive director of La Promesa Early Learning Center Charter School, described herself as passionate about supporting quality education for all students in APS.  “I want to serve on the Albuquerque Board of Education to give something back to the Albuquerque Public Schools District that provided support to me as a student, teacher, administrator and parent,” she stated in her candidate questionnaire.

Maestas worked for APS for nearly 25 years as an educational assistant, teacher, assistant principal, principal, Title I coordinator and assistant superintendent.

Korte, the regional elections coordinator for the Associated Press, also is a substitute teacher and the president of the L.B. Johnson Mid-School parent/teacher organization. “I am the mother of four APS students, so I have a big stake in APS and education in our city,” she said in her candidate questionnaire.

“I am committed to seeing our students achieve academic excellence and creating a safe learning environment at all our schools. I want our schools to be fiscally efficient and have effective curriculums that reach out to all levels of students. I would love to see morale among teachers and administrators strengthened and the quality of our schools increased.”

To read more about the three board members, go to http://www.aps.edu/about-us/board/2011-board-election.