Legal residents can’t get teacher scholarships

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.

I remember, since the time I was 5 years old, playing with my friends, and pretending to teach them and give them homework. So when I heard about a new scholarship for people who wanted to become teachers, I was filled with excitement. Unfortunately, regardless of the teacher shortage our state faces, not everyone can apply for this scholarship to become a teacher in our communities.

I was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and my family and I immigrated in 2007 after our lives were threatened by the cartels because my dad was a police officer at the time. I was 11 years old and a sixth-grader when I started school in Albuquerque in a predominantly white middle school. Not many students spoke Spanish, and I remember feeling isolated and frustrated.

My math teacher, Mr. Diaz, spoke Spanish, and he was my only friend in sixth grade. Mr. Diaz allowed me to stay in his classroom during lunch because I had no friends that I could freely communicate with, and I remember he always encouraged me to present in front of the class. He helped me learn the numbers in English so I could help other students that struggled with math.

Mr. Diaz shaped my perspective of the type of teacher I wanted to become: One (who) was truly engaged in making sure every child in the classroom succeeded and had a sense of belonging.

As I continued my academic journey, I graduated from high school in the South Valley. Then, I started working as an educational assistant in the South Valley in January 2017. I started working for the special education department, which I’ve felt passionate about ever since I can remember.

Recently, I was encouraged to apply for the special education teacher position less than a year after (I began) working there. I started this new position shortly after through my substitute license. Ever since I started working in this position, I’ve had the privilege to learn so much from my students and the community that I work in.

New Mexico is being presented with a unique chance to leave our bad rankings behind and truly transform our educational system for the better. But that can only happen if we create the right conditions for more homegrown teachers to succeed and thrive locally.

Working as a long-term special education teacher has been a transforming and empowering experience, and it has allowed me to contribute to innovation in the education space.

Currently, I’m attending (Western New Mexico University) and working toward obtaining my bachelor’s degree in special education so I can get my full teaching license. Higher education is expensive, and as a legal permanent resident there aren’t many scholarship opportunities that I can apply for, including the most recently announced Grow Your Own Teachers Scholarship. As it stands now, the scholarship is available only to U.S. citizens, creating more barriers for people who are driven about providing our children with the best education possible.

I am passionate about being a teacher and working in the community that I grew up and went to school in, and the fact that I am not eligible for this scholarship is a challenge that relates directly to many of the equity and diversity challenges our state faces.

It is an issue that I hope Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and our state legislators can begin to tackle soon, allowing passionate people like myself an opportunity to move New Mexico forward and into better national rankings by creating accessible opportunities for new teachers.