We need more teachers, counselors and support systems
Itaught early childhood in public schools for 15 years, earned a Ph.D. in reading, and was a well-published researcher and educator of educators for more than 30 years. I fully support and am part of the 69% of voters that will cast a ballot for Constitutional Amendment 1 to change the distribution of the Land Grant Permanent Fund.
Schools have been given the responsibility to fix all that ails our state, but that’s difficult to do when there are so many disparities inside and outside of the classroom. We are experiencing a teacher shortage in New Mexico, and the rate of counselors and social workers to students is at an abysmal rate while student-educator ratios remain too high. There are not enough community schools, a powerful model that provides extensive services to the communities they serve.
Those are issues inside of the classroom. Outside of the classroom many children suffer trauma as a result of the insecurities they face in their homes, communities and beyond including food insecurity, medical and dental access insecurity, income insecurity and more. Some children come home to empty and unsupervised situations while others are often tasked with babysitting younger family members and even elders. They have lived through a global pandemic and may have lost loved ones to violence, diseases and suicide.
This is the reality our educators, families and children are facing. Saying we don’t need more money or pointing to current test scores falls flat to someone who has been in the classroom. High-stakes tests hurt children and educators and do little to promote quality curriculum. Assessing learners with high-stakes tests every year is like going for a blood test and having them draw every drop of blood from your body. Well-qualified educators know how to assess children. They need the additional, long term, consistent funding Constitutional Amendment 1 will provide to do their job.
The only way to address these complex issues that children bring to school is to fund the programs, processes and procedures that will ensure our children are well-prepared for the complicated world that will be left in their hands. Change takes time and creativity, but we are not cultivating a supportive environment for change. I want my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and all that come after to have a deep understanding of their world so they can make it better for all that live on our planet . ...
We need to keep in mind there is a fail-safe built into the amendment so the distribution stops if the balance falls below $17 billion. (We need) to encourage support for public education that is long-term and visionary, rather than blinded by fear, especially when our state has one of the largest permanent funds in the country. It’s shameful to protect that money at the expense of our children’s learning.
Rick Meyer is a professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico and an education advocate working as a volunteer with the Working Families Party of New Mexico in support of passage of Constitutional Amendment 1. The views shared here are his own.