Education will prove to be a hot topic of discussion during the 30-day New Mexico Legislature in 2024.
Conflicts over priorities, local control, funding and multilingual education have sparked debate as lawmakers put forward a patchwork of education proposals through a $10.2 billion budget.
The state's final education budget remained largely unchanged throughout the process.
This includes:
- $49 million for literacy, career technical education, and community school programs
- $14 million for early literacy support
- $55 million for culturally relevant bilingual materials
- 2% pay increase to $62.7 million, up to $15 an hour for all school employees
- $43 million to expand infant care
- $750,000 to support adult literacy programs
- $2 million for attendance programs
Education spending increases This year, it increased by just over 6%.
Congress also passed changes to graduation requirements for the first time in 17 years, removing some requirements such as Algebra II, the aptitude test, and the requirement that each student take Advanced Placement, honors, dual credit or distance learning classes. did.
Despite conflicting funding proposals between the Executive Budget and the Legislative Finance Committee, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham received $30 million in funding she requested for literacy centers.
“New Mexico is being bold,” Lujan Grisham said at a news conference after her death. “We are a nation built to lead.”
local control
A Republican-backed budget amendment by Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) would deny the New Mexico Department of Public Instruction funding to efforts to force school districts to have 180 school days. It received the support of 17 Democratic senators.
The amendments are included in the final version of the budget and will need to be considered by the governor.
Days and hours: Behind the budget amendments that bring Democrats and Republicans together
the lawmakers said. SOURCE New Mexico After the vote, they said they were concerned about maintaining local control and loyalty to voters. There were also concerns about a bill to be passed in 2023 that would increase the number of mandatory instructional hours per week but allow districts to decide how those hours are broken down during the school year.
Democratic lawmakers who supported the amendment said children would get more value from better education programs than from spending more days in school.
“I hope that after four or five days of debate we can think about innovative education,” Rep. Tara Jaramillo (D-Socorro) said after the first vote early in the session.
Other lawmakers were concerned that small rural schools would be forced to spend more on food, fuel and utilities.
The governor said he would “consider very carefully” the amendments. Lujan Grishasm did not give a clear answer on whether she would veto the bill, but said she would continue to pursue the 180-day school period.
“(The proposed amendment) is in direct contradiction to what I think should happen in New Mexico's public education system,” Lujan Grisham said.
Multilingual/multicultural education
House Bill 134, the Tribal Education Trust Fund that would have allocated $50 million directly to tribes to build more multilingual, culturally relevant and supportive education capacity, was eliminated in the final hours of Congress. It was done.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia-Pueblo), withdrew the bill after learning of several amendments awaiting introduction on the Senate floor. Despite bipartisan victories in both the House and Senate, the bill stalled due to tribal disagreements.
The move came after Lente introduced an amendment on the House floor that would address concerns from the Navajo Nation government about the composition of the task force that would develop the funding model.
Tribal Education Trust Fund will be abolished, legislative supporters say
“This all came out of the blue and frankly, it's disappointing,” said George Hardeen, a spokesman for Navajo Nation President Boo Nygren's office. “This trust fund would have been extremely beneficial, especially to Navajo children.”
Lente withdrew his bill last Congress, citing similar concerns about the tribal funding model.
Hardeen said he would like to help the Navajo Nation take the initiative to reinstate the bill in the next legislative session, but Lente said he is unsure whether he will reinstate the bill.
Lente said some of the Senate amendments violate the promises of the original bill, and he chose to withdraw the bill to protect the integrity of the tribes involved.
“It's in everyone's best interest, especially tribes, to have disagreements publicly displayed, debated, and shown to others,” Lente said at a House Democratic press conference after the session. I don’t think that will happen.” “These discussions took place behind closed doors, among sovereign leaders.”
Another education proposal aimed at addressing obligations from the Yazzie Martinez lawsuit, House Bill 39, also did not move. It received one committee hearing and passed early in the session.
The bill would have built capacity for bilingual programming and certification programs at public universities, colleges, and tribal colleges. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Yanira Gurrola (D-Albuquerque), said she will work with the Legislative Finance Committee and the Legislative Education Research Committee to fine-tune the bill in the meantime.
“It was good to introduce this bill because it started a conversation,” Gurola said. “It was a little difficult because the sessions were short. But we managed to open the door and make this something that we should take seriously, so we have hope that we can achieve something with this.” I am.”
Concerns about the amount of items being funded and the large expenditure of more than $27 million have made the push difficult, but Gurrola intends to work with lawmakers to find the best way to fund these programs. she said.
“It was clear that these programs were not pilots,” Gurrara, himself a bilingual educator, said in an interview in Spanish. “I'm a product of these programs. These are programs that already exist, so we just support them.”
literacy
In addition to the Governor's Literacy Center, thousands of children in grades 1 through 5 may have the opportunity to participate in a six-week literacy boot camp next summer. This is part of the governor's plan to increase literacy rates through structured literacy programs.
The boot camp then continued as an after-school program. A request for proposals is currently underway on the idea, said Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque).
Structured literacy teaches students to decode words in a systematic way to make complex information easier to understand.
New Mexico ranks 50th in literacy, with 79% of fourth graders reading below grade level, according to the child literacy nonprofit. Reading is basic.
The governor also received all the funding he requested for adult literacy programs at public universities. The proposal is expected to cost $750,000.
“The sad problem is that New Mexico took a little too long to really embrace the science of reading and make it universal,” Lujan Grisham said as she announced the literacy plan at the beginning of the session. Told. “Most of the educators in this room have been going through this on their own for a long time.”
Career technical education and human resource development
Early in the session, members of the House and Senate Education Committees declared career technical education a top priority.
Lawmakers said that while there is much work to do, the Legislature has taken “important first steps” toward building a strong workforce in New Mexico.
“When the governor talks about all the money going into infrastructure…we need people to do the work to make that happen,” Lt. Gov. Howie Morales said at a press conference after the governor's office. Ta. “And our commitment to career-technical education and collaboration with higher education and K-12 systems is tremendous.”
House Bill 5, which creates the Workforce Training and Apprenticeship Fund, also passed Congress. A total of $8 million will be allocated to create a fund to support and create approved training programs.
The new graduation requirements signed by Lujan Grisham also allow for career technical education electives.
At the end of the session, lawmakers praised investments in career technical education and workforce development.
Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) praised the Apprenticeship Training Trust Fund, saying, “The workers will definitely come.” He said, “Because it's a trust fund, we're going to create training programs over the decades to create the workers that New Mexico desperately needs.”
