Latest news with #OfficeofSpecialEducation
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State head of special education departs for role in Maryland
As New Mexico still struggles to educate students with disabilities up to the same standards as their peers, the state's inaugural head of special education has left after less than two years on the job. Margaret Cage, who was selected in October 2023 as the inaugural director and deputy secretary of the Public Education Department's much-touted Office of Special Education, has departed for a new role in Maryland. Her last day of work at the department was Tuesday. Deputy Director of the Office of Special Education Tyre' Jenkins will serve as interim deputy secretary as a national search is underway to find Cage's replacement, Public Education Department spokesperson Janelle Taylor García wrote in an email to The New Mexican. 'Dr. Jenkins has been with PED since January of 2024 and has been a close partner with Dr. Cage throughout her tenure in creating and managing the Office of Special Education,' Taylor García wrote. Cage's departure from the new office comes as the state's more than 50,000 public school students with disabilities continues to face a persistent gap in achievement relative to their nondisabled peers. The Public Education Department's standardized testing data from the 2023-24 school year shows just 13% of students with disabilities were proficient in reading and 7.5% in math, compared to statewide averages for all students of 39% and 23%, respectively. In 2018, a judge in the landmark Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit decision against the state determined the state had failed to provide sufficient education to several groups of students, including those in special education. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham created the Office of Special Education by executive order in May 2023, arguing the office — located within the Public Education Department — would serve as a primary point of contact for students and their families to get the special education services they need while improving recruitment, retention and training for teachers specializing in special education. By the time it was established, the office had been on lawmakers' and advocates' minds for years. During this year's legislative session, Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, proposed Senate Bill 38 to officially codify the Office of Special Education in state statute, but the bill stalled after passing the Senate. When she was selected as the Office of Special Education's first top official, Cage brought 25 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, school leader and school system administrator to the role, plus a doctorate and master's degree in educational leadership. Prior to her departure, Cage earned an annual salary of $160,000, according to the New Mexico Sunshine Portal. She arrived in New Mexico from Assumption Parish Schools in Louisiana — a district of just under 3,000 students west of New Orleans — where she supervised special education services. Cage declined The New Mexican's interview requests upon her arrival in the role. Minutes from the Feb. 2 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education in Rockville, Md., indicate board voted unanimously to appoint Cage as the district's new chief student support officer. Cage continued her job duties until her last day Tuesday, Taylor García said, including providing insight during the legislative session. 'The Office of Special Education continues to be staffed with a number of highly qualified individuals dedicated to advancing the mission of the OSE,' Taylor García wrote in an email.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Which bills passed, and which failed, during 60-day legislative session
Mar. 23—New Mexico lawmakers filed nearly 1,200 bills during the 60-day legislative session that ended Saturday at noon. A total of 194 of those bills ultimately passed both legislative chambers. Some have already been signed or vetoed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, but most will have their fates decided by the April 11 bill signing deadline. Here's a look at what bills passed — and which fell short — at the Roundhouse. Measures marked with an asterisk (*) are already signed into law. Crime/Public safety Passed — Allow judges to impose longer prison sentences for fentanyl trafficking.* Change how courts handle criminal cases involving defendants deemed incompetent.* Increase penalty for school shooting threats.* Expand state's red flag gun law to allow law enforcement officers to initiate petitions.* Establish a turquoise alert system for missing Native American individuals. Expand racketeering crimes. Failed — Assault weapon ban. Enhance criminal penalties for violent juvenile offenders. Make it easier to hold certain defendants in jail pending trial. Repeal firearm sale waiting period. Make fentanyl trafficking a first-degree felony punishable by a life sentence. Increase penalties for felons convicted of firearm possession. Education Passed — Require schools adopt student cellphone policies. Ensure local school choice on school year length (vetoed). Increase starting teacher salaries to $55,000 per year. Protect Spanish language and culture. Allow tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies.* Expand the state's higher education nondiscrimination policy. Change how the state calculates eligibility for public service loan forgiveness. Require defibrillators in high schools. Failed — Restrict participation in single-sex sports. Provide free condoms in secondary and higher education institutions. Create an Anti-Hazing Act. Replace the Public Education Commission with an elected and appointed state school board. Require a nominating list for higher education regent selection. Codify an Office of Special Education. Health/family Passed — Create state-run psilocybin program for medical patients. Overhaul state mental health and substance abuse treatment system.* Create an Office of the Child Advocate to oversee the Children, Youth and Families Department.* Exempt public abortion providers' information from public records requests. Establish volunteering doula credential process.* Create a Medicaid trust fund. Failed — Create a state-run paid leave program for workers funded by mandatory employer and employee contributions. Limit attorney fees in medical malpractice cases. Impose a 6% surtax on liquor sales. Set minimum staffing-to-patient ratios for hospitals. Join interstate health care compacts. Environment Passed — Overhaul the Department of Game and Fish and increase hunting license fees.* Funds to achieve net-zero emissions and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Require toxic chemical warning labels for some products. Create wildfire suppression and post-wildfire funds. Establish the Strategic Water Supply Act to fund brackish water projects. Give the state more authority to protect waters. Failed — Codify limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Allow schools to replace buses with clean energy buses. Ban single-use plastic bags. Pass Green Amendment enshrining environmental protections in state Constitution. Increase coverage limits for last-resort fire insurance premiums. Energy Passed — Raise maximum oil and gas royalty rates in the Permian Basin. Allow investor-owned utilities to implement low-income utility rate programs. Create a local solar access fund. Fund abandoned mine cleanup.* Fund geothermal projects.* Allow utilities to recover costs from expanding the capacity of existing transmission depleted oil and gas wells. Create a regulatory framework for carbon sequestration. Failed — Increase penalties for Oil and Gas Act violations. Restrict oil and gas operations within a mile of schools. Retract zero-emission vehicle sales rules. Establish a Consumer Solar Protection Act. Provide tax credits for quantum projects. Economy/Taxes Passed — Give state agency law enforcement power over state cannabis industry. Expand existing property tax exemptions for veterans.* Eliminate personal income taxes for an additional 101,000 New Mexicans. Provide tax credits and breaks for foster parents and health care practitioners. Invest in site readiness efforts. Increase attorney fees and employer advance discovery costs in workers' compensation cases.* Failed — Completely eliminate state's personal income tax. Change the tax valuation for multifamily housing. Provide tax credit for local news outlets. Establish annual $500 per taxpayer rebate through 2033. Prohibit ticket scalping at more public events. Exempt tips from state income tax. Government/Elections Passed — Allow voters to decide if governor should have to give reason for bill vetoes. Require lobbyists or their employees to disclose bill stances. Permit independent voters not to vote in primary elections without changing their party affiliation. Change state's insurance plan for state employee health care premiums. Establish independent election procedures for conservancy districts.* Failed — Create independent commission to set salary levels for legislators. Change length of legislative sessions. Require driver's license or MVD photo ID to vote. Make Election Day a state holiday. Create a DOGE-inspired office to identify fraud, waste and abuse at a state level. Create a Reduction of Grocery Costs Commission. Create regulatory Artificial Intelligence Act. Make changes to state's public records law. Immigration/Labor Passed — Require that projects funded by industrial revenue bonds comply with state prevailing wage laws. Prohibit state employees from disclosing individuals' immigration status or other sensitive personal information. Allow people with authorization to work in the U.S. to work in law enforcement. Failed — Increase state's $12 per-hour minimum wage. Ban federal civil immigration detainment in state. Add more members to the New Mexico Border Authority. Create new state border security office. Create a reimbursement fund for local government costs incurred by state and federal border matters.
