{"id":40415,"date":"2022-05-25T14:09:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T20:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-advocates-review-plan-aimed-at-education-deficits\/"},"modified":"2022-05-25T20:09:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T20:09:40","slug":"new-mexico-advocates-review-plan-aimed-at-education-deficits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-advocates-review-plan-aimed-at-education-deficits\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexico advocates review plan aimed at education deficits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gov.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham high-fives a grade school student at a bill-signing ceremony at the Francis X. Nava Elementary School on March 1 in Santa Fe. Advocates are weighing in on Lujan Grisham\u2019s plan to address a lawsuit that highlights shortcomings of the state\u2019s education system. (Cedar Attanasio\/Associated Press file)<\/span>Cedar Attanasio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SANTA FE \u2013 New Mexico\u2019s governor has presented a long-awaited plan<\/a> that would set goals for academic proficiency as the state struggles to resolve a lawsuit by frustrated parents who won a court ruling saying the state is failing to provide an adequate education for the vast majority of its students.<\/p>\n

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham\u2019s proposal released earlier this month is meant to satisfy that 2018 court ruling and ongoing litigation to ensure adequate resources to equip students as they pursue a career or college education.<\/p>\n

New Mexico is among a long list of states where parents have turned to the court system to address frustrations with the state budget process and the quality of classroom education.<\/p>\n

The public and advocacy groups have until June 17 to comment. The plan is expected to drive immediate reforms by the state Public Education Department, as well as discussion and budget priorities in the Legislature next year. However, critics say it lacks specifics, including detailed funding plans and timelines.<\/p>\n

Native American education advocates and tribal leaders put forward their own plan in 2019. Called the \u201cTribal Remedy Framework,\u201d it cites<\/a> sections of the lawsuit, makes specific recommendations and suggests a specific amount of funding to carry them out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I am hopeful and happy (the Public Education Department) has released its report and are beginning to move on their response, I am still yet perplexed as to why they have yet to publicly embrace the Tribal Remedy Framework,\u201d said Rep. Derrick Lente, of Sandia Pueblo. He called the proposed draft \u201ca we know what\u2019s best for Native kids approach,\u201d and contrasted it to the collaborative plan submitted by tribes and advocates.<\/p>\n

Education advocates had expected the governor\u2019s proposal to be shared in December, before the January legislative session, but that didn\u2019t happen<\/a> and the state budget was passed in<\/a> February.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s plan could also be used to determine whether a state court continues to keep watch over spending and initiatives to improve public education.<\/p>\n

The court had found that state investments in education, as well as academic outcomes of students, proved that \u201cthe vast majority of New Mexico\u2019s at-risk children finish each school year without the basic literacy and math skills needed to pursue post-secondary education or a career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A student carries a math book delivered by school bus driver Kelly Maestas along his rural route Oct. 19, 2020, outside Cuba, N.M. Advocates are weighing in on Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham\u2019s plan to address an ongoing lawsuit that highlights shortcomings of the state\u2019s education system. (Cedar Attanasio\/Associated Press file)<\/span>Cedar Attanasio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For groups covered in the lawsuit, which constitute around 70% of children in the state, proficiency in reading and math at multiple grade levels was far worse than other students, with around 4% to 15% being proficient, the court found.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham\u2019s draft plan would set academic performance goals that include a 50% increase in test scores compared with 2019 numbers for children covered by the lawsuit \u2013 including Native Americans, English learners and students with disabilities. But the education department concedes that it can\u2019t currently measure increases.<\/p>\n

The administration has changed proficiency tests twice since the 2018 court ruling, limiting the state\u2019s ability to argue to a court that improvements have occurred.<\/p>\n

The state also didn\u2019t test students comprehensively for two consecutive years during the pandemic. It\u2019s rolling out a new battery of tests this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen New Mexico\u2019s assessment data are finalized and compiled later this summer, the (Public Education Department) will reset that baseline and the targets defined in the draft action plan will be attached to that data,\u201d Public Education Department spokeswoman Carolyn Graham said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s also important to note that the draft plan is, indeed, a draft, and we expect to receive valuable feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

The draft plan offers no funding suggestions. It does highlight recent increases in education spending approved by the governor, including recent significant teacher salary raises and overall education funding increases. Education now accounts for around 45% of the $8.5 billion general fund budget. Unlike most other states, New Mexico funds schools through the state budget rather than relying on property tax revenues.<\/p>\n

The administration also touts tweaks to support specific groups named in the lawsuit, including an overhaul of social studies standards that expands focus on Native American history and identity. Those changes have been welcomed by education advocates, even those continuing to mount the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Representatives for the plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit welcome the draft plan and the opportunity to respond. But they\u2019re not satisfied with the level of detail provided by the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that it still lacks the critical elements we have been asking for on a statewide level: concrete goals, action steps, estimated funding levels, timelines, responsible parties and estimated staffing needs,\u201d Melissa Candelaria, education director with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, said in a statement. \u201cCommunity input is key but would be much more constructive on a fully fleshed out plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The education department had said last year, for example, that the draft would include 90-day benchmarks for shorter-term performance targets. None of that was included in the draft released this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor\u2019s plans are heavy on platitudes and short on results,\u201d said state House Minority Leader Jim Townsend, R-Artesia. He suggested that delays in producing a plan were to benefit Lujan Grisham\u2019s re-election campaign.<\/p>\n

Education is expected to be a central issue in the gubernatorial race this year.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Maddy Hayden said the draft is intended to provide a long-term guide and that more specific details will be added after the public comment period.<\/p>\n

The education reforms were developed \u201ccollaboratively across many agencies and there is shared understanding and accountability on the part of agencies to get this critical work done,\u201d Hayden said.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham\u2019s office declined to comment about future legal plans, such as seeking to dismiss the lawsuit again, as she tried unsuccessfully to do in 2020.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Legislature and the governor approved $500,000 in legal spending related to the case. That\u2019s on top of an estimated $6 million already spent by Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, and her Republican predecessor to fight the lawsuit since 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham high-fives a grade school student at a bill-signing ceremony at the Francis X. Nava Elementary School on March 1 in Santa Fe. Advocates are weighing in on Lujan Grisham\u2019s plan to address a lawsuit that highlights shortcomings of the state\u2019s education system. (Cedar Attanasio\/Associated Press file)Cedar Attanasio SANTA FE \u2013 New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-40415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40415"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=40415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}