Latest news with #HouseBill63
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Funding for English learners in public schools at risk, New Mexico budget analyst warns
A budget analyst for the New Mexico Legislature says the federal funding for K-12 public education most at risk of being cut is meant for students who are English language learners and their teachers. (Getty Images) A public school budget expert told New Mexico lawmakers on Thursday that the federal government is likely to take away money meant for students who are learning English, but said a new state law will help compensate for the loss. Legislative Education Study Committee Senior Fiscal Analyst Daniel Estupiñan said the federal funding for K-12 public education most at risk of being cut is meant for students who are English language learners and their teachers, called Title III, because the Trump administration has 'mostly hollowed out' the Office of English Language Acquisition, which ensured states and schools properly spent Title III money, and has recommended terminating its funding source. The office had just one staffer remaining as of March 21, Chalkbeat reported. 'So many nonprofits, so many other states, are basically going into a panic,' Estupiñan told the committee. 'They're panicking about their public school funding formulas not being responsive enough to potentially support English learners, to potentially support low-income students and support professional development in basic programs.' Overall, New Mexico will receive more than $633 million from the U.S. Department of Education for K-12 public education this year, according to estimates included in Estupiñan's presentation to the committee. The Trump administration's preliminary budget proposal proposed keeping the same level of funding for low-income students and students with disabilities, while also cutting $4.5 billion in the various 'formula awards' that go to public schools, according to Estupiñan's presentation. Estupiñan said the proposal calls for redesigning the federal funding scheme for K-12 schools, and changing to a block grant system in which states would receive one large pot of money without as many rules governing how to spend it. How much money the federal government actually provides to schools will depend on the final budget passed by Congress. U.S. House Republicans push through massive tax and spending bill slashing Medicaid If left untouched, New Mexico may receive $4.7 million in English language learning funds that can pay for teacher training, family engagement and instructional materials, Estupiñan said. Estupiñan said the state could, however, navigate losing federal funding as a result of House Bill 63, which reduces the state's reliance on federal data. Instead, starting on July 1, New Mexico's funding formula for English learners will use state income tax data, public benefits data and U.S. Census Bureau data. 'So we're not completely independent from federal data, but we're moving in the direction of basically data autonomy,' Estupiñan said. That change will result in about $125 million flowing to districts and charter schools, and that money can be used to backfill a potential cut, he said. HB63 also created the first guidance New Mexico has ever had for how money should be used to specifically support English learners, he said. 'So if we see the elimination of Title III funding, or we see some revocation of federal protections through rule or statute for English learners, we now have a good foundation in state statute to build on,' Estupiñan said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ed funding overhaul nears final steps despite concerns about secondary school boost
Key provisions of a plan to overhaul New Mexico's per-student formula for financing public K-12 education are raising concerns even as the proposal nears the finish line. State lawmakers already have allocated $4.4 billion for education spending — the single biggest piece of New Mexico's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. House Bill 63, the result of two years of inquiry by the Legislative Education Study Committee, would make some changes to how the state divvies that money by student, offering up targeted funds for English learners and altering the state's method for identifying students in poverty. It also lays out extra funding for most middle and high school students; while, the proposal sailed through the Senate Education Committee with unanimous support Monday, whether it will secure the additional money for secondary students remains uncertain. 'In House Appropriations and Finance, in the budget-making process, the increase to the secondary factor — the large increase that we had — didn't make it into the budget,' the bill's sponsor, Rep. Andrés Romero, D-Albuquerque, told the committee. Charter schools also voiced concerns about a potential loss of funds because of the bill's changes. New Mexico's education funding formula, known as the State Equalization Guarantee, provides money to schools based on the number of students they serve, with each student currently worth about $6,000 per year. But the formula also factors in certain student attributes — such as grade level, special education services, family income level and participation in fine arts or other specialty programs — in calculating the total dollar amount a student will bring to their school as a way to account for additional and sometimes more expensive needs. House Bill 63 proposes a few big changes to the State Equalization Guarantee. First, it would calculate schools' "at-risk" funding — a special pot of money intended to address the needs of students in groups considered at risk of failing — based on the Family Income Index, a measure established by the Legislature in 2021 to better estimate the number of students living in poverty at each public school. That change, Romero said, would provide a 'better way to really pinpoint' which schools generated those funds and how they're using them to better support students. Second, HB 63 would create a new financial factor in the funding formula, creating a stand-alone credit to support 'identified services to assist English learners to attain English language proficiency.' English learners were previously included as one of several factors in the 'at-risk' category. The original version of the bill proposed a third major change: An increase in state spending for middle and high schools, intended to target the downturn in proficiency and attendance that typically comes during those years. Changes in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, however, struck those increases for all but sixth grade. Additional dollars for seventh through 12th graders did not make it into the committee's budget proposal. Lawmakers haven't given up on extra funding for secondary students, though. "We're working with the [Senate] Finance Committee about putting that funding back into the budget over on this side," said Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces. Another sticking point for the bill: Charter schools worry about proposed technical changes that would allow them to generate their own at-risk index based on their number of students in poverty, rather than using figures from their home school district. On the whole, that's not a bad thing, said Matt Pahl, executive director of Public Charter Schools of New Mexico. "This has been something charter schools have been wanting for a number of years — the ability to generate our own at-risk index," Pahl told the committee. However, the change could provide a charter school with more or less at-risk funding — depending on how different it is from its home district. The bill currently includes an extra $5 million cushion, intended to keep state education funds for charter schools steady for one year, even if the updated funding formula would call for decreases. Romero, who represents much of Albuquerque's South Valley, noted some charter schools in his area could benefit from the change because they serve a higher population of at-risk students than Albuquerque Public Schools overall. Jason Morgan, principal of the Academy for Technology and the Classics in Santa Fe, said the district-chartered school would see a drop of about $200,000. Morgan asked lawmakers to consider extending what's known as the "hold harmless" period — when current funding levels would be maintained — to three years. "A one-year hold harmless means we're going to be preparing for that now. A three-year hold harmless gives us a minute to breathe," Morgan said. Romero said he's open to making that change and plans to prioritize it throughout the interim period between legislative sessions, though it ultimately will depend on the will of the state's financial committees.
