Public Education in New Mexico

About the Authors

About the Authors John B. Mondragón is a native New Mexican born in the village of Holman in the northern part of the state. His parents are members of the early Spanish families who settled some of the original land grants; his great-grandparents settled in the villages of Trampas and Chamisal. His parents, though not highly formally educated, encouraged their offspring to get an education . John attended Mora High School with Sisters of Loretto as his teachers (in a public school). He served in the United States Army and returned to receive a BA and an MA degree from New Mexico Highlands University. He holds a Doctorate from the University of New Mexico and has taken postdoctoral work at Stanford University. In his thirty-three years of public school experience, John served as a teacher in the East Las Vegas Public Schools and in the Albuquerque Public Schools. In APS, he served as teacher, assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, and area/regional superintendent. As South Area Superintendent in APS, he worked with the first cluster in the district utilizing the Effective Schools Model. At the University of New Mexico, he has served as Educational Leadership faculty member and has been the program coordinator for three of the ten years. He also serves as an Outreach Coordinator for the College of Education. He is the Executive Director of the New Mexico Research and Study Council, a consortium of NM school districts providing research, professional development, and other services member districts need. He teaches School Finance, School Business Management, Human Resources, Public Education in New Mexico, and Federal and State Policies in Educational Administration. John also serves as an advisor on Doctoral and Masters Student Committees. His work at the University of New Mexico has included coauthoring a textbook on public education in New Mexico. He has just recently been inducted into the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators’ Hall of Fame. John is passionate about New Mexico and the education of its youth. 255 Ernest S. Stapleton is a native New Mexican born in Albuquerque. He attended school in Socorro and graduated from Socorro High School. His father was a teacher and principal in the Socorro Public Schools, and both his father and his mother modeled for him the value of an education and respect for others and helped to establish a direction and goal for his entire future. That future included a term with the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He holds BA and MA degrees from the University of New Mexico, doctoral studies at Columbia University, and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Albuquerque. Ernie’s beloved wife of fifty years, Elsie, had a wonderful and profound influence on his career and his life. In his thirty-year career in the Albuquerque Public Schools, Ernie was a teacher and administrative assistant at Jefferson Junior High School; principal at Mark Twain Elementary School; counselor, teacher, and principal at Valley High School; director of instruction, assistant and associate superintendent, and Superintendent of the Albuquerque Public Schools. He served thirteen years as the Executive Director of the New Mexico Association of Elementary School Principals. Over twenty years at the University of New Mexico included serving as special assistant to the president, coordinator of the administrative internship program, academic director of LAPE (Latin American Programs in Education), and faculty member teaching courses in the principalship, educational reform, public education in New Mexico, curriculum development, and others. He proudly supports Ernest S. Stapleton Elementary School in Albuquerque/Rio Rancho, his namesake, and he was recently inducted into the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators’ Hall of Fame. Ernie has published some articles over the years; he is a book collector with a collection of over 10,000 volumes. He loves New Mexico, its landscapes, its people, and its food. CoauthoringPublic Education in New Mexico has been one of his latest challenges. About the Authors 256 ...