Court will protect students
Despite zero progress and no plan, the Governor’s Office wants the public to trust it
There have been articles and letters published by the Albuquerque Journal sharing opinions about the (landmark education funding) lawsuit and the state’s motion to dismiss. We want to share the plaintiffs’ perspective.
In October of last year, before the legislative session and well before the new reality of COVID-19, we filed a motion on behalf of plaintiff families in the Yazzie/ Martinez lawsuit explaining how the court’s order wasn’t being met and asking the court to compel the state to develop and implement a plan to provide basic educational sufficiency for all public school students.
Over a year and a half after the court’s ruling and two legislative sessions later, virtually nothing has changed for students and families at the heart of the case: low-income families, students with disabilities, English-language learners and Native American students, who collectively make up roughly 80% of the New Mexico student population. The state continues its piecemeal approach to fixing education, with no definitive, measurable plan. Now, with schools closed and students and teachers shifted to online learning environments, the inequities in opportunity for students across New Mexico are even more exposed.
Put simply, the state has not fulfilled its duty to comply with the New Mexico Constitution. In its own motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the state admits our public education system still does not provide a sufficient and uniform education for all students. The motion suggests we should all simply trust state government, legislators and the governor to fix the school system, which is exactly what hasn’t worked in the last several decades.
Public education in New Mexico is a big ship to turn and, while nobody was expecting all the problems to be addressed and fixed overnight, the state asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit at this point, with virtually no progress made toward a comprehensive overhaul of the school system, is disrespectful to the families involved in the lawsuit and the tens of thousands of students across the state whose constitutional rights to a fair and equitable education continue to be violated.
Now, in the (midst) of a special legislative session wherein lawmakers may have to make tough choices of where to cut education funding, students and families in New Mexico will continue to lose out.
The sentiment from some lawmakers and the Governor’s Office that the lawsuit has served its part in making education a priority, so it is no longer necessary, undermines the importance of this landmark case and the role of the judicial branch in protecting our citizens. As is evident from the last legislative session, education is still not the priority it needs to be.
Our public school system still doesn’t have basic education infrastructure to provide equitable access to technology and reliable internet, still lacks culturally and linguistically appropriate instructional materials, thousands of English language learners still lack certified teachers, extended learning and summer school still isn’t available for all students who need them, more than 25,000 3- and 4-year-olds still don’t have access to quality Pre-K, and the state still fails to fund or implement the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act (1973), the Indian Education Act (2003) and the Hispanic Education Act (2010).
Until every student in New Mexico has the opportunity to be successful in school, any action on behalf of the state to dismiss the lawsuit or otherwise undermine the directives from the court is inappropriate and shameful.
The crisis of COVID-19 has only exposed the ongoing crisis that has long-existed with our public education system. This month a judge will hear both our motions saying the state hasn’t yet done what it needs to do to meet minimum sufficiency, and the state’s saying it should be trusted to fix education, regardless of making virtually no progress. Despite campaign promises and lip service, politics continue to fail our students. The court is absolutely essential to protecting our students’ constitutional right to education, especially now.