Governor isn’t afraid to start over on education

The dismissal of a high-profile Cabinet secretary just months into a new administration is a black eye for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. There’s no escaping that. If Karen Trujillo is the wrong choice to run the Public Education Department in July, she was the wrong choice when she got the job. The governor fumbled this important choice.

However — and this is a big however — admitting a mistake quickly, cleanly and starting over is the sign of leadership.

Rather than squander an opportunity to improve public education with a leader she believed was falling short, Lujan Grisham pulled the plug. Trujillo might argue — and she is — that she was doing a good job, but in the end, the governor is the decider. And Lujan Grisham’s goals for improving education in New Mexico are the right ones. She wants to fulfill the promise of education and its transformative opportunities for all children.

With $120 million in new money to spend and an education budget that comprises

46 percent of the state’s overall $7 billion budget, the state finally has the dollars it needs to make fundamental changes. Because so many of the dollars being spent are tied to the boom in the oil and gas industry, state leaders understand they cannot waste this moment. The education “moonshot” must succeed, even if the governor needs to start over at the top. All of this, remember, is taking place with the specter of a successful lawsuit over the adequacy of school funding hovering in the background.

As the governor searches for the right PED leader, perhaps she should think about more radical reform.

A key program passed by the 2019 Legislature was the K-5 Plus initiative, designed to offer additional class time as a jump-start for the school year. The law was designed in great detail, rather than written as a broadstrokes bill that allowed education experts at state and local districts to figure out how to carry out the mandate.

This meant that districts across the state were expected to recruit teachers and students for a program starting this summer, with only a few weeks to prepare the proposals and get funding. The optimum K-5 Plus also requires that the summer teacher remains the classroom teacher in the fall. District leaders had trouble filling the mandate, and the program did not prove as popular as lawmakers and others hoped.

A good argument could be made that more objections should have surfaced while the bill was being written, including from state-level educators, district superintendents and others, but once in place, the fiercest cheerleading for K-5 Plus needed to come from the state level. That didn’t happen to the governor’s satisfaction.

But an extra 25 days of classroom time in the summer — which isn’t mandatory for students, by the way — may not be the best way to change New Mexico’s educational system. Reformers should think about even bolder steps: Year-round schooling, a longer school day for all and extra tutoring for children who are behind. Increase a child’s time on task in as many ways possible, making learning intensive and fun. An emphasis on early childhood education, of course, needs to continue so that children are better prepared on the first day of school.

All of this takes money, as well as visionary leadership. Karen Trujillo gave it her best shot, and New Mexicans thank her for her hard work at restaffing the Public Education Department — the deputy secretaries are outstanding, including Kara Bobroff, acting head of PED until a new secretary is chosen. Trujillo also brought her positive enthusiasm for education to Santa Fe. That was refreshing to see in a secretary of education.

With Lujan Grisham in charge, PED no longer is the scold in Santa Fe, telling parents, students, teachers and administrators across the state all the ways they are failing. No, this education department is there to support and boost performance, to provide resources and ideas, and to never, ever give up on improving our public schools.

Now, find the best person to implement not just the governor’s agenda, but to deliver for New Mexico’s children.