THE SEVEN YEAR MESS

In January we reported on a new article uncovered in the Indy Star regarding Zendejas’ IPS replacement, Duncan Pat Pritchett and his impending retirement. We decided to give the reporter of that article a call.

My oh my.

What exactly took seven years to clean up? The relationship with employee unions was huge. Teachers kept fleeing the district for better paying locales in the Indianapolis suburbs. Another problem was university relations. The universities felt Zendejas and the IPS board were so dysfunctional that they were weary about sending student teachers into the district.

A few weeks later, we received a packet of articles from the Indy Star archives that illuminate precisely why Zendejas had her contract bought out. Then, by a stroke of good timing, the Brownsville Herald updated their on-line archives. There’s so much information, we’ve decided to change tactics. We’re not going to do a monthly feature on a specific article, like we did last month with the firing of the black administrators articles (By the way, the major media finally picked up on that question. Zendejas was asked about last year’s pink slipping of all but one black administrator. She spun out of the question with a comment about accepting people of all cultures.). Instead, we’re going to give you a detailed history of Zendejas from El Rancho Unified School District as a student: to here:

The best part of our conversation with the Indy Star? Forty minutes into the discussion, the reporter interrupted and asked, “Did she bring out Kiko yet?” We told her yes, and alluded to the letter we received about her speech concerning ventriloquism dummies to students at a parent empowerment conference. The reporter let out a subdued “oh no” before continuing the conversation.

If any of our readers have verifiable stories from her days in southern California or the neighboring Oak Grove district, send them our way. The more complete the picture, the quicker the Board will get the message.