House OKs new diploma requirements

A bill updating New Mexico’s high school graduation requirements for the first time in over 15 years has made its way halfway through the legislative marathon.

The state House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 64-3 to approve House Bill 126. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andrés Romero, D-Albuquerque, told members of the House it is designed to keep students invested in high school and give them more options for classes that may speak to their post-school career needs.

“We need to reengage,” said Romero, an Albuquerque public school teacher. “That’s a really key portion of what House Bill 126 does.”

Some critics have questioned the bill’s decrease in the number of required credits from 24 to 22, but Romero said there is no proof requiring more credits equates to better preparing graduates. A National Center for Education Statistics report says just 12 states have 24 credit requirements for graduation and none require more than that.

Romero stressed the bill gives individual school districts the option to raise the number of units required to earn a high school diploma.

In the face of criticism the new standards do not include financial literacy courses, Romero introduced an amendment that, among other measures, reflects the fact financial literacy standards are already embedded in social studies standards.

That move was praised by other lawmakers who want to ensure students learn how to negotiate a checkbook, a bank account and loans.

Among other proposed changes, HB 126 also does away with requirements that students take dual credit and Advanced Placement classes and Algebra II. Romero’s amendment includes a provision that requires districts to offer Algebra II classes for students who want to take them, however.

HB 126 also requires school districts to come up with two units of discretionary studies for graduates, giving districts more say in what those courses will be, Romero said. It also requires districts to offer classes in world languages and career technical education.

And, it requires schools to come up with graduate profiles to track academic expectations, skills and attributes of students to help them stay on course and plan for the future.

“If we are involving the student to take ownership and direction of their future, whether it is workforce or higher education ... that is where we are going to revive student interest in their high school [curriculum],” Romero said.

Unlike many hot-button issues that set Democrats against Republicans, HB 126 is one that has garnered support from both parties. The one-hour debate on the bill was civil and supportive, with many lawmakers saying it gives local school districts a say in how best to prepare students for graduation.

House Minority Leader Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, said he likes the career technical education program component of the bill because it offers a pathway from high school to a job for students who do not plan to go to college.

The “trades are desperately training and needing people,” so the workforce-related programs will help both students and employers, said Lane, who cosponsored the bill.

He said HB 126 in no ways reflects a “dumbing down” of the graduation standards.

The bill’s future remains unclear. When Romero pitched a similar proposal two years ago, it cleared the House of Representatives but stalled in a Senate committee.

If the bill does become law, it would go into effect in school year 2024-25.