Latest news with #LegislativeEducationStudyCommittee
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
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Santa Fe judge finds state out of compliance with Yazzie/Martinez education ruling
You make the mess, you clean it up. That was the message Tuesday from a state district judge in Santa Fe who ruled the New Mexico Public Education Department has continually failed to comply with a landmark 2018 court order to provide a sufficient education to certain groups of at-risk students. Judge Matthew Wilson of the First Judicial District also ruled it was the department's job to fix the problem. He ordered the agency to develop a "comprehensive remedial plan" to comply with the ruling in Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico and set several deadlines. His ruling followed a hearing on a motion filed by plaintiffs in the lawsuit, asking the judge to assign the job of improving services and student outcomes to the Legislative Education Study Committee rather than the education agency. Nearly seven years after another state judge found in favor of the plaintiffs, they continue to decry what they see as a lack of successful solutions from the Public Education Department, even as lawmakers have made significant investments in education. The department argues, however, its mandate to ensure schools adequately educate groups of students cited in the lawsuit — Native Americans, English language learners, low-income kids and students with disabilities — pits it directly against districts that demand more local control. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said Tuesday the Legislative Education Study Committee has more expertise, stability and accountability than the education department and should be tasked with creating a plan to make improvements. Wilson denied that part of the motion, noting the committee is not a party in the lawsuit and he doesn't have the authority to direct it to create the plan. But he said the Legislative Education Study Committee and other stakeholders should be involved in crafting the plan and selecting outside experts and consultants to help. Wilson also laid out deadlines for the state to be in compliance, or risk court sanctions: * July 1: The Public Education Department must file a status report with the court and work with the Legislative Education Study Committee to identify outside experts and consultants to help draft the action plan. * Oct. 1: The state agency, along with stakeholders, must develop a draft plan, 'identifying all the components and elements necessary for a constitutionally sufficient and uniform education for at-risk students." * Nov. 3: The agency must develop a final plan and file a status report for the court's review. * Dec. 1: The Yazzie/Martinez plaintiffs' last day to file objections to the final plan. The state will then have 15 days to file a response, and the plaintiffs will have 15 days to file a reply. Wilson said he "anticipates a final comprehensive remedial plan." "I will bring the PED and the state into compliance with the court's final judgment and will ultimately conclude this litigation,' he said. 'Scattershot initiatives'? The state had one main argument against the plaintiffs' claims of continued noncompliance with a judge's 2018 ruling in the case. Rather, it had one number — 62% — referring to the state's roughly $1.7 billion increase in annual appropriations for public education between 2016, when the budget was $2.5 billion, and 2024, when it was $4.2 billion. 'Plaintiffs argued that this increase in funding makes no difference because PED has no plan how to spend it and no accountability over the districts. That is simply untrue,' said Taylor Rahn, a private attorney with Robles, Rael & Anaya, who represented the Public Education Department and Cabinet Secretary Mariana Padilla. Rahn pointed to examples of the department's oversight, such as education plans that require "school districts to articulate how they intend to spend at-risk funding.' She said the plaintiffs have an 'outright disregard of changes to inputs in the public education system.' Rahn also noted some areas of improvement, such as an increase in graduation rates for at-risk groups and the narrowing of an achievement gap between high- and low-performing students, one that is 'smaller than the national average.' While a boost in performance by economically disadvantaged students between 2022-23 and 2023-24 helped narrow the achievement gap, assessments showed it was also caused by a downturn in the academic performance of students from higher-income families. In a rebuttal to Rahn, Preston Sanchez, an attorney for the Yazzie plaintiffs, called the Public Education Department's efforts 'piecemeal' and 'scattershot initiatives that have had little to no impact' on at-risk student groups. He cited a few dismal statistics — for example, that 12% of special education students achieved scores showing proficiency in reading in 2022-23, compared to 38% of students overall statewide. As for the agency's accountability measures, he called the department's education plan a matter of 'checking boxes and paperwork' rather than a comprehensive means to vet school districts. Asking for overreach? Rahn argued the plaintiffs' request for the department to impose 'sweeping accountability measures' could lead to pushback from districts that oppose overreach. For instance, 54 districts joined together last year in filing a lawsuit against the department's rule requiring all schools to provide 180 days of instruction each year. A judge struck down the rule in February. Padilla said at the time the department was "dissatisfied" with the ruling and still believed "students can achieve better educational outcomes when we maximize learning opportunities." The plaintiffs' attorneys called into question the stability of the agency's leadership — given its five Cabinet secretaries since 2019 and the recent departure of Margaret Cage, director and deputy secretary of the Office of Special Education, after two years on the job. Rahn noted the agency has decreased its job vacancy rate since 2016 and has created 'dozens of new positions, many of which are targeted in at-risk student areas.' She said, ' Plaintiffs make the allegation that PED cannot be trusted to lead or cannot be trusted to comply with court orders because we've had several secretaries since the time of the court ruling. There is no court relief that could change that. People are allowed to change positions; people are allowed to seek different positions." She also pointed to the plaintiffs' request for remedies to teacher vacancies in at-risk areas — saying they were "suggesting that the state must force teachers into certain at-risk classrooms." ' The court does not have the power to override teacher union agreements," she said. Wilson did not address the plaintiffs' calls for such specific actions but noted 'the relief sought by plaintiffs is reasonable and within the court's authority.' Martha Pincoffs, a spokesperson for the Public Education Department, wrote in an email after the hearing the state has "substantially increased funding, and taken significant steps" to improve student performance and educator retention.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill passed to create tribal immersion language schools
Jeanette DeDiosKUNM Native American students make up 11 percent of public school enrollment in New Mexico. Yet there are not enough resources for them to learn their Native languages. A bill passed in the recent legislative session will create new schools under a state-tribal compact to address those gaps. New Mexico has 23 sovereign tribes and among those tribes eight languages are spoken, but only seven are taught in school districts. Senate Bill 13 will create a five-year pilot program with five schools prioritizing distinct Native languages of Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Keres, Apache, Zuni, and Diné. Bill co-sponsor Sen. Benny Shendo Jr. (D-Jemez Pueblo) said that many Native parents and grandparents have been conditioned to believe the only way to succeed was to speak English. 'But that's not true,' he said. 'I was born and raised speaking my language. It wasn't much later that I began to learn English. So how can that be when those of us that were fluent Native speakers are able to be successful in college and all the stuff that we're doing today?' He said a lot of Native students are struggling because they don't feel that they belong. 'And if we can really reground them in who they are, then I think it gives them that confidence for them to be able to go out and compete in the world in a way that they should be competing, not with anxiety about, who am I? Where do I belong?'' he said. Native American students have historically reported lower achievement and graduation rates than their peers. The New Mexico Indian Education Act stresses the importance of maintaining Native languages and culture. But programs providing these opportunities are currently limited within public schools. In 2018, a ruling in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit determined the state had failed to provide a sufficient education to Native American students as well as those learning English, living with disabilities or from families with low incomes. The Legislative Education Study Committee's analysis of the new legislation suggested it could offer the state an opportunity to respond to the lawsuit through targeted funding, creation of cultural learning environments and putting more teachers in classrooms with backgrounds similar to their students. The bill does not contain an appropriation, but will provide operational and capital outlay funding for immersion schools.
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.
