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Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge sides with plaintiffs in Yazzie/Martinez NM education equity case
Wilhelmina Yazzie and Polk Middle School teacher Travis McKenzie embrace Tuesday April 29, 2025, celebrating a district court judge's order siding with plaintiffs' request the state create a plan for achieving better outcomes for Native American, disabled, low-income and English-learning students. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) A New Mexico district court judge on Tuesday found that the Public Education Department has not complied with previous orders in the Yazzie/Martinez education equity case and ordered the state to begin the process for creating a plan to rectify the situation. Parties in the more than 10-year-old Yazzie/Martinez case returned to court after plaintiffs filed a motion of non-compliance in September 2024, pointing to continued poor student outcomes, high turnover within the PED and high teacher vacancy rates. First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson concurred and said the state needs a plan to ensure progress is made and tracked. 'A court-ordered plan would provide guidance to the Legislature and the executive branches of government, particularly when making difficult budgetary decisions that need to survive political and economic shifts,' Wilson said during the hearing. Plaintiffs' legal counsel had proposed appointing the Legislative Education Study Committee to lead the development of the plan because the department has permanent staff and access to educational research. However, Wilson said because the LESC is not party to the case, he does not have the authority to direct them to create a plan. Instead, PED is tasked with developing a plan and LESC can provide input. Wilson gave the PED until July 1 to identify an 'outside expert and consultant to assist' in developing the plan and to file a status report with the court. The state then has until Oct. 1 to develop a draft report and file another status report with the state, 'taking into consideration all of the components and elements raised by the plaintiffs in their briefing.' Wilson said the final plan must be completed by Nov. 3 and filed for the court's review. The plaintiffs outlined a proposed plan with nine goals to address the needs of Native American students, low income students, English language learners and students with disabilities. A PED spokesperson told Source NM that the department welcomes Wilson's decision. According to court documents, the PED did not object to creating a plan, but objected to the LESC taking the lead in the process. 'Improving student outcomes is central to our mission and this plan will support lasting improvements to our educational system,' the PED told Source in a written statement. The department also said the state has 'substantially increased funding' and the department has made 'significant steps' to improve student outcomes and teacher recruitment. Melissa Candelaria, education director for the NM Center on Law and Poverty, which represents the plaintiffs, said plaintiffs still see the court's decision as a 'victory' because LESC will still be involved. She said the plaintiffs will be involved as well, because Wilson ordered that stakeholders be consulted. She said the plaintiffs will need continued support 'as we go forward in holding the state accountable in implementmenting the plan and ensuring that the voices are at the table in the development of the plan, as the court said just a little while ago,' Candelaria said during a news conference following the court's decision. Wilhelmina Yazzie (Diné), one of the original plaintiffs, was emotional following the court's decision. 'I think it's about time, and I really am staying positive. As I mentioned, my boys were young when we started this, now they're young adults,' Yazzie told Source NM. Danielle Prokop contributed to the reporting of this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama immigration enforcement bill gets approval from 2nd House committee
Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, greets a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 6, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved a bill sponsored by Yarbrough to allow local law enforcement to enforce the country's immigration laws. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved an immigration bill that had already received another committee's approval earlier in the session. The House Judiciary Committee approved HB 7, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, which would give local law enforcement the authority to enforce the country's immigration laws. 'There are no new laws added,' Yarbrough said to committee members during the meeting. 'It simply allows that partnership to take place just to address safety in our communities.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Judiciary approved the bill about six weeks after the House Public Safety and Homeland Security did so in February. It is unusual for a bill to go through two committees before going to the floor of the House for a vote. The last major legislation to get routed through two House committees was the bill legalizing medical cannabis in Alabama in 2021. The current bill, largely unchanged from last year, allows local law enforcement, such as sheriff's offices and police departments, to enter into agreements with federal agencies to arrest and detain people who are not legally authorized to reside in the country. Once in custody, deputies and police officers must then attempt to determine a person's immigration status and get the help of an interpreter to determine someone's nationality. If a person cannot provide documentation proving they are eligible to live in the country, local law enforcement may then reach out to a Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) to get information about a person's immigration status. The bill states that people cannot be detained solely because of their immigration status unless authorized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and that sheriffs' deputies and police departments will verify that a person has an arrest warrant within 24 hours of the person getting detained. Law enforcement must also obtain documents to verify a person's immigration status, bet that a passport or a permanent resident card. House Judiciary Committee members approved an amendment making a few of the requirements optional. A previous version required the Alabama Attorney General's Office to publicly name any agency failing to comply with provisions in the legislation and notify the governor's office. The updated language gives the AG's Office an option to inform the Governor's Office. Another amendment also allows, but doesn't require, local law enforcement to report the total number of people arrested and the number of foreign nationals they take into custody as well as the inquiries they make to the LESC. Immigration advocates who spoke at a public hearing on the legislation in March said the legislation is creating fear among immigrant communities. That, they said, would lead to mistrust toward law enforcement and increased school truancy for children of immigrants who are afraid to attend school for fear of their parents being deported. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee criticized the legislation. 'What country do we border in Alabama?' asked Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery during the committee meeting Wednesday. Yarbrough said that every state is connected, and that people travel. 'Each state doesn't have a physical wall, so people travel from state to state,' Yarbrough said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House committee advances vocational teacher salaries bill
A teacher addresses students in a classroom. (Photo credit: Getty Images) A Senate bill that would include vocational teachers in the tiered minimums for teacher salary rates unanimously passed its first House committee Monday. The House Education Committee quickly gave Senate Bill 343, sponsored by Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces), a do-pass vote, sending it to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee next. The bill would amend parts of the School Personnel Act, which addresses hiring and firing practices related to licensed school employees, as well as designating teacher salaries based on their level of licensure. Minimum salary tiers would change to include vocational teachers, who teach topics such as culinary arts, auto repair and health sciences. According to the LESC's bill analysis, the estimated average salary for vocational teachers was about $10,000 above the minimum salaries for each tier during fiscal year 2025. Soules told Source NM that the bill stems from concerns from several local school districts, including Las Cruces Public Schools, where the personnel office interpreted the current law and chose not to pay vocational teachers a higher salary rate. 'It's almost a nothing burger type of bill,' Soules said. 'It just makes it very clear that the intent of the law is that vocational teachers can get paid at the higher rate.' The current salary minimums are $50,000 for a level one teacher, $60,000 for level two and $70,000 for level three. However, House Bill 156 this session proposes increasing each salary tier by $5,000. The bill passed the House floor last week by a vote of 62-1 and was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) was the one lawmaker to vote in opposition. Kersti Tyson, K-12 program director for the LANL Foundation, voiced her support for the bill during the committee meeting and pointed to the benefits for vocational teacher, or career technical education teacher, recruitment. 'We hear from many schools across the state that they have challenges recruiting and retaining CTE teachers. This bill will help with this by ensuring an equal minimum salary,' Tyson said. 'This will signal a commitment to CTE programs and make teaching more attractive to industry experts.' According to the LESC bill analysis, schools across the country have reported more difficulty in filling CTE or vocational teaching positions compared to academic subject positions, particularly in 'high-demand' areas such as information technology, health sciences and engineering where experts are paid significantly more in their industries compared to teaching the subject. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House committee OKs bill allowing local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws
Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, walks on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives in an American flag scarf and camoflauge jacket on Feb. 11, 2025 in the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Members of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved his legislation to allow local law enforcement to help enforce country's immigration laws. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved a bill that would allow state and local law enforcement to enforce the nation's immigration laws amid concerns from civil rights groups that the legislation will lead to racial profiling. HB 7, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, would give sheriff's deputies and police officers authority to arrest and detain individuals who are not authorized to be in the U.S. and to transfer them to the custody of federal law enforcement. The legislation approved by House Public Safety and Homeland Security was largely unchanged from the one submitted during the 2024 session that the committee also passed but stalled afterwards. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Very simply, it gives the ability, in a more formal way, for state and local law enforcement to work with the federal government, in a guided and structured way to enforce existing immigration laws,' Yarbrough said to the committee. Yarbrough's legislation allows local and state law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements to enforce the country's immigration laws with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Currently, the Alabama Attorney General's Office is the only state entity with that power. Under the bill, sheriffs' deputies; police officers and state troopers may also arrest people based on their immigration status 'when authorized by federal law.' Once a person is suspected of living in the country illegally, law enforcement is required to determine the nationality of the individual and bring in an interpreter to help with communicating with the individual. If the person who was arrested and detained cannot provide documentation proving legal status, the officers may contact the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) to determine the person's immigration status. The bill also authorizes the Alabama Attorney General's Office to report whether local law enforcement does not comply with provisions in the bill in a news release that outlines the details of the violation. 'An inmate identified as an illegal alien shall not be detained on the basis of being an illegal alien unless the LESC or ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) specifically provides written instructions for detaining the inmate as an illegal alien,' Yarbrough's bill states. 'The existence of an arrest warrant shall be verified with ICE within 24 hours of the placement of the immigration detainer.' Police officers and sheriffs' deputies will obtain a document that informs the legal status of the individual in custody, be that a passport or permanent resident card, while the person is in custody. The bill requires local law enforcement to comply with orders to detain individuals based on their immigration status. HB 7 also requires local agencies to report the total number of people they take into custody and the number of foreign nationals they arrested, and to track the inquiries they make to the Law Enforcement Support Center. They will then compile that information and provide a report to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency each year. Several Democrats on the committee expressed their concerns with the legislation, particularly the section that requires law enforcement to determine the nationality of a person they take into custody. 'When you begin the process to determine someone's nationality, even in any law you write, when you go to what is called a suspect classification, you start getting the highest level of scrutiny from any court from that point forward,' said Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa. 'When you say that law enforcement incarcerates someone in a county jail or municipal jail, that part of their inquiry is to determine a person's nationality, you have already begun moving towards being unconstitutional because, ultimately, someone's status here has nothing to do with their nationality.' Yarbrough said that a person's nationality needs to be determined to find the appropriate interpreter to assist with communicating with the person who was arrested. Other Democrats, such as Rep. Tashina Morris, D-Montgomery, said during the committee that language is not linked to a person's nationality. 'It is overly broad,' said Katie Glenn, senior policy associate with the Southern Poverty Law Center, in an interview after the meeting. 'It is going to face some serious hurdles in the court as Rep. England pointed out, and it is going to create an opportunity for racial profiling across the state as local law enforcement are now tasked with a job that is most appropriately left to the federal government.' She said that if local law enforcement encounters a person in public, they must use some kind of proxy to determine if someone is in the country without authorization, 'like skin color, like accent, like language.' 'We know that is going to disproportionately impact Black and Brown Alabamians,' she said. The courts had already had concerns with an anti-immigration bill that the Alabama Legislature passed in 2011 that required schools to identify the immigration status of K-12 students and required people to determine people's immigration status before providing rental housing. 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