Education reform progress, but we can’t let up

Blaming the public school system is a favorite activity in New Mexico. And why not? In statistic after statistic, students in New Mexico do not perform as well as their peers from across the country.

It’s a longstanding problem, one that holds back New Mexico from success, whether in helping its brightest young people achieve their potential or drawing them home to raise families. Business leaders have worried about moving here, concerned about their employees’ children and the public schools. Fair or unfair, this continues to threaten growth and prosperity going forward.

The Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit, filed on behalf of at-risk children, won the point that education in New Mexico has not been properly funded. Now, with a court order in place, the state is charged with changing the current reality. The presence of a flood of cash because of the booming oil and gas economy marks one of the first times New Mexico might have the dollars to actually address the challenges.

That is why there was such hope springing from the 2019 legislative session, when education was first on the governor’s agenda — her much-promised “moonshot” with new dollars aimed at boosting the performance of at-risk students in communities across the state. Intention, of course, is not delivery.

As with all reforms, the rollout has been rocky at times. We do commend Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s focus — including being willing to bring in a new Public Education Department secretary when she was unhappy with progress. The governor is determined to change public schools in New Mexico, and in doing that, help children to brighter futures.

Standing with her are the thousands of teachers, principals, parents and children across New Mexico who might not believe standardized tests measure the true worth of our children — count us among them — but who also believe we can and must do better.

For that reason, testimony Friday before the Legislative Education Study Committee is instructive. The most important takeaway is that all appear to be united that New Mexico is just getting started on improving education. Funding for K-12 schools increased some 16 percent this year, or by $448.2 million, but despite those dollars, the state still has not returned to 2008 funding levels when inflation is considered. Let’s repeat that. New Mexico is not funding education equal to levels from almost 12 years ago. We have a lot to make up.

It is encouraging that legislators, superintendents, teachers and other advocates understand this. The sort of change the New Mexico Constitution requires — sufficient funding for education for all children — is not going to happen without more dollars, qualified teachers, smart curriculum and the right sorts of spending.

Look what happened to Santa Fe Public Schools this year. Of the additional $7.1 million in funding for the state to run schools for 2019-20, some $6.7 million went to mandatory raises. That left the district scrambling — and Santa Fe was not alone — to pay for nurses, counselors and other support services needed to assist children from atrisk backgrounds.

The K-5 Plus program, which adds 25 days to the school year voluntarily, caused confusion across the state as districts recruited teachers, and ended up serving far fewer students than intended. Reforms require flexibility, and the legislation implementing the program did not give districts room to adjust. In Santa Fe, 1,168 students were served, although the district had projected it would enroll 2,368. Statewide, the hope was to spend $53 million to bring K-5 Plus to 25,000 students last summer. Instead, some 23,139 students were enrolled at a cost of $39.7 million, all of which means that money was left on the table and students who could have benefited were left behind.

And, as everyone knows, the flow of money from the oil fields will not last forever. That’s why it is so important to spend wisely before funds dry up. That’s why a diversified economy is necessary so that other industries will pay taxes to replace whatever is lost when the current boom deflates. That’s why we can’t waste this moment.

The good news is, everyone recognizes the uniqueness of what is taking place right now. We have critical will from the classroom to the Governor’s Office. We have the dollars to make a difference. We have widespread community support that translates into volunteers and private dollars in our schools. Now, reforms must focus on programs that will bring results now but also create long-term change.

Chief among necessary investments are those creating pipelines for recruiting teachers and attracting young people to a career that can change lives. Then, once in place, new teachers must be supported, whether they came out of education schools or are mid-career novices. New initiatives developed to help aspiring teachers pay for college or assist teacher aides in becoming teachers are smart investments in increasing the supply of educators.

And so the push to improve education continues. Stay tuned.