When Española Military Academy Principal Steve Baca said the new teachers he has hired are “good, great teachers,” he should know. One of the teachers he hired at the start of the school year, Estelle Ana Baca, is his sister, he confirmed.
Estelle Ana Baca is one of four non-military teachers who do not have permanent teaching licenses. She currently teaches math at the Academy on an internship license, which gives beginning teachers a provisional three years to teach while they obtain permanent teaching licenses. She makes $36,276 a year, according to her contract. Steve Baca said his sister is close to obtaining a permanent license, and is well-qualified. According to her personnel file, Baca’s prior experience includes editing for a book publisher.
“Is that appropriate? I think it’s appropriate to hire someone who’s qualified,” Steve Baca said. “I’m not going to turn away a family member just because she’s a family member, if she’s someone who know’s what she’s doing.”
Baca said he would ask another administrator to prepare his sister’s annual evaluation. State law prohibits school board members and superintendents from hiring parents, sons, daughters or the same relationships acquired by marriage, but does not extend the ban to siblings. The law does not specify whether charter school principals who, like superintendents, make hiring and firing decisions, are bound by the same law.