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Only 16 days remain in the 2023 Legislative Session. It’s crunch time! A couple of our priority bills are moving quickly and we are working hard to oppose a few bills that we believe are bad for New Mexico students.
Your advocacy fuels this work. Please continue to read our updates and participate in our calls to action. We appreciate all the actions you have taken so far!
HB 481: ALIGN SCHOOL READING MATERIALS
Yesterday our literacy bill, HB 481, sponsored by Minority Floor Leader Ryan Lane, passed out of the House Education Committee on a 9-1 vote! The bill now heads to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.
We continue to need your support! Email your legislator and ask them to VOTE FOR HOUSE BILL 481 and ensure New Mexico students receive research based instruction in early literacy!
SENATE BILL 24: SCHOOL REPORTING ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS
SB 24 has passed the Senate on a 36-2 vote! The bill now moves to the House Education Committee. The passage of this bill ensures Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER) are monitored, well-spent, and aligned toward improving outcomes for New Mexico’s students. We thank Senator Crystal Diamond for sponsoring this legislation!
We need your support to ensure this bill crosses the finish line. Email committee members and ask them to VOTE FOR SENATE BILL 24.
HOUSE BILL 126: SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
HB 126, which changes graduation requirements for students entering 9th grade in the 2024-2025 school year, passed the Senate Finance Committee yesterday on a 9-0 vote. The bill now awaits a vote on the Senate floor.
We cannot support this bill as it decreases the number of credits required to graduate from 24 to 22, and removes Algebra II and two semesters of a foreign language as graduation requirements.We believe these courses put New Mexico students on a strong path of success and help them compete with their peers across the country. Passage of this legislation would move us backwards and send a message that we don’t believe in our students. Email your senator and ask them to VOTE NO ON HB 126!
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 1 – STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SJR 1 would establish a statewide school board and eliminate the cabinet position of Public Education Secretary. Under this proposal, the governor would no longer have control of the PED and instead voters would elect a state school board that would hire a state Superintendent of Instruction. The legislation passed the Senate on a 36-1 vote and now heads to the House Education Committee, it’s only committee assignment in the House of Representatives.
The constant change of leadership at the Public Education Department has been extremely problematic as we have highlighted consistently over the last four years. However, that does not mean that New Mexico should go back to a system that we have already tried once before. Governor Bill Richardson and New Mexico voters, just 20 years ago, decided our former state board of education was not working. Why would we go back to a system that has failed us before?
We will continue to keep you updated as we head towards the end of session and work to get our policies across the finish line.
As always, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram for all the latest updates. Thank you for your continued support. We can’t do it without you.