Education funding for families in need
Stewart presents proposal to lawmakers using income data to better direct resources to disadvantaged students
There is a new buzzword in New Mexico’s public education system: family income index. Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart sees the concept as a means of addressing some of the inequity highlighted in the landmark Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit, in which a state district judge ruled New Mexico has denied Native Americans, low-income children, special-education students and English-language learners their constitutional right to an education.
Stewart told lawmakers on the Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday he hopes to use household income as the basis for funneling $56 million from a Public Education Reform Fund toward a range of services for families in need over a two-year period.
The proposed funding is a fraction of the department’s $3.3 billion budget request — but Stewart told the committee it is a key component aimed at giving the state’s poorest students a needed boost.
The family income index, based on data from the state Taxation and Revenue Department and the federal Census Bureau, would help determine which schools in the state serve the most economically disadvantaged students, Stewart said.
Preliminary data shows his agency has used the index to identify more than 87,000 students statewide, out of over 300,000 enrolled in public schools, who are from families with “very low” to “extremely low” income.
Stewart said the reform funding would be used to supplement academic enrichment programs, provide emotional and social services, retain educators, and enhance beforeand after-school programs.
The Public Education Reform Fund was created from money for state initiatives that add learning time for certain students to help overcome achievement gaps. Funds went unspent when the coronavirus pandemic halted many districts’ plans to offer the K-5 Plus summer elementary program and Extended Learning, which builds extra days into the school year.
“We want to give more schools the ability to access these types of programs,” Stewart said.
Under the State Equalization Guarantee, an enrollment-based funding formula that provides about 90 percent of the budget for public school districts, those with the highest levels of poverty receive only “2 [percent] to 3 percent more funding per student than the average district,” he said.
Fred Trujillo, superintendent of Española Public Schools, said a district like his could greatly benefit from a funding program based on a family income index.
He estimated more than 75 percent of his students are from low-income households, and he said the extra funding would go a long way toward improving their education.
Parts of the education funding formula intended to aid at-risk students don’t help the district as much they should, he added.
“We fall into a lot of the categories when it comes to at-risk funding,” Trujillo said, but “there are indicators that should have more weight than others. That’s my philosophy as superintendent.
“And to properly meet the needs and mandates of [the Yazzie/Martinez] decision, we need to be properly funded,” he said.
Stewart’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2021 also addresses issues districts are facing due to the pandemic, which has wrought havoc on students and families. He proposed using another $95 million from the reform fund to cover a variety of initiatives to help students catch up after what is likely to be more than a year of predominantly online learning.
Among them are the following:
◆ Additional instructional hours for students from kindergarten through second grade, as well as high school juniors and
seniors, to recover lost learning time.
◆ Transportation services for students receiving those additional instructional hours.
◆ Salary matches for students participating in work-based learning programs and paid internships for upperclassmen.
◆ Two statewide professional development days to help teachers learn accelerated instructional methods.
The plan struck a chord with some legislators, who lauded Stewart for finding unique solutions for some of the state’s pressing education problems.
Rep. G. Andrés Romero, an Albuquerque Democrat who chairs the House Education Committee, said he likes the fact the Public Education Department took a targeted approach toward addressing the needs of at-risk and lower-income students, but he wants to make sure those plans are implemented properly.
Romero questioned how schools would access indexbased funding and if it would be sustainable beyond two years.
“We want to make sure we get the policy right and making sure it is distinct and is serving the role that it should,” Romero said. “And we need to make sure the finances are there to sustain it. That is one thing that is important.”
Agency spokeswoman Judy Robinson said index payments for qualifying schools would come in monthly allotments from the department in addition to allocations from their districts through the State Equalization Guarantee.
Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-Gallup, who is vice chairwoman of the Legislative Finance Committee, also said she was intrigued by parts of Stewart’s plan, including the family income index.
“It’s much different than what I expected to hear,” Lundstrom said. “I want to commend you for thinking differently.”