The coalition supporting the Yazzie-Martinez court decision is complaining that the state Public Education Department has not yet published a comprehensive plan. The demand was made public in a news release in early January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yazzie-Martinez, we recall, was the 2018 court decision that affirmed that New Mexico children are getting an inferior education, especially low-income, Native American, English language learner (ELL), and students with disabilities. The judge ordered the state to fix the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coalition has also complained that the state has not complied with a court order from May 2021 which required that all students be provided with a dedicated digital device and with high speed internet access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Devices, feasible. High speed internet access, easier said than done. The state recently created an Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, tasked with developing a three-year strategic plan to help coordinate Internet expansion projects between state and tribal entities and private companies. A court order won\u2019t make it move any faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No doubt, the court decision added impetus to the demand that New Mexico radically improve its education system, which New Mexico has been trying to do for decades. But the court order didn\u2019t tell us how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A coalition called Transform Education New Mexico, TENM, is the primary advocacy group for enforcing Yazzie-Martinez. It\u2019s a big coalition, with about 20 signatory organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor decades,\u201d declares TENM\u2019s website, \u201cthe state has failed to provide our students with the education they need and deserve \u2026 creating some of the worst racial and economic inequalities for educational achievement in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The schools have certainly failed to fix this education gap. I\u2019m not so sure they created it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recently asked PED deputy communications director Judy Robinson, \u201cWhat is New Mexico supposed to do for the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit that we wouldn\u2019t want to do anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nothing, she said. \u201cThere is nothing in the court order that New Mexico wouldn’t want to do anyway. \u2026 New Mexico has a moral imperative to provide an equitable education to the students identified in the court order. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She detailed the executive budget proposal of $350 million on Yazzie-Martinez specific goals. The biggest item is $277.3 million for the well-publicized initiative to raise teachers\u2019 salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PED controls only as much money as the legislature appropriates. We\u2019ll probably find out what\u2019s appropriated within a few hours of noon on Feb. 17, when the legislative session ends and the budget is final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year, almost half the state general fund goes to K-12 education, with additional money for higher education and, recently, Pre-K. This year we have more revenue due to oil and gas production, but we also have major demands in public safety and cries for tax cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One goal of TENM is a public education system that: \u201cEmbraces, reflects, and incorporates the cultural and linguistic heritage of our diverse communities as a foundation for all learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A worthy goal, but there\u2019s a drastic teacher shortage. The judge cannot snap his fingers and produce a new coterie of teachers who are both highly qualified and culturally appropriate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If PED had produced that comprehensive plan in 2019, it would be in shreds by now because COVID-19 upended the system. The more thorough and detailed the plan, the more it creates openings for unforeseen obstacles and for the critics to pick it apart, producing more unproductive argument. A comprehensive plan also would create a new cause for another group of opponents: the people who are showing up at school boards to oppose the update of the state\u2019s social studies plan, and who have demonstrated a very different idea of cultural sensitivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The TENM coalition is calling for \u201ctransformative\u201d change. Perhaps instead we should be all right with steady, incremental improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a9 2022 NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICES <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The coalition supporting the Yazzie-Martinez court decision is complaining that the state Public Education Department has not yet published a comprehensive plan. The demand was made public in a news release in early January. Yazzie-Martinez, we recall, was the 2018 … Continue reading