New Mexico legislative session reshapes education spending
3 years, 9 months ago

New Mexico legislative session reshapes education spending

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico lawmakers have approved short-term measures to help schools recover from the pandemic and have finalized sweeping educational funding reforms that could affect child development for decades to come. “The other 80% is pretty wide open,” said Stan Rounds, New Mexico School Superintendents Association executive director. New Mexico’s system for distributing broadband is undergoing belated reorganization after the state’s near-total shutdown of school buildings left around 20% of students without devices or internet for online schooling, according Public Schools Facilities Authority spring survey. “We’ll have the projects ready to draw down when they are available.” In February, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX began taking sign-ups for its satellite internet service along lower latitudes including New Mexico after testing in northern states last fall.

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History of this topic

New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
1 week, 5 days ago

New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico would make major new investments in early childhood education, industrial water recycling, and drug addiction and mental health programs linked to concerns about crime under an annual spending proposal from Democratic Gov. Released Thursday, the budget blueprint would increase general fund spending by about $720 million to $10.9 billion, a roughly 7% increase for …

Gov. Shapiro seeks school-funding boost to help poorer districts, but Republicans remain wary
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Gov. Shapiro seeks school-funding boost to help poorer districts, but Republicans remain wary

Associated Press  

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro is taking the first step in what is shaping up to be a complicated, yearslong process to respond to a court decision that found that Pennsylvania’s system of public school funding violates the constitutional rights of students in the poorest districts. The 14% increase reflects recommendations produced last month by Shapiro appointees and Democratic …

New Mexico governor proposes 10% spending increase amid windfall from oil production
11 months, 2 weeks ago

New Mexico governor proposes 10% spending increase amid windfall from oil production

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico’s governor is proposing a nearly 10% general fund spending increase for the coming fiscal year to shore up housing opportunities, childhood literacy and health care access, with additional payouts for electric vehicles purchases. 2 oil-producing state anticipates a multibillion-dollar surplus for the coming fiscal year, driven largely by oil and natural gas production in …

New Mexico, the No. 2 oil-producing US state, braces for possible end to income bonanza
1 year ago

New Mexico, the No. 2 oil-producing US state, braces for possible end to income bonanza

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — A windfall in government income from petroleum production is slowing down but far from over in New Mexico as the nation’s No. New Mexico’s annual state government income has swelled by nearly 50% over the past three years, driven largely by oil an natural gas production in the Permian Basin, the most prolific shale-oil producing region …

New Mexico proposal would extend free child care, boost pay
1 year, 7 months ago

New Mexico proposal would extend free child care, boost pay

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico would extend indefinitely no-pay child care for most children up to age 5 with increased payment rates to private and public child care providers under proposed regulations announced Monday. New Mexico’s current child care subsidies — among the most expansive in the nation — were initiated with federal coronavirus relief money. New Mexico in …

Food for thought: Free meals for all New Mexico students
1 year, 8 months ago

Food for thought: Free meals for all New Mexico students

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed legislation to provide free school meals to all students regardless of family income, as New Mexico and several other states look to fill the gap left by lapsed federal pandemic-era benefit programs and address the strain to family budgets caused by food prices. About 67% — or 309,000 New Mexico …

Report: Albuquerque should shrink public schools, cut jobs
2 years, 7 months ago

Report: Albuquerque should shrink public schools, cut jobs

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Albuquerque’s K-12 schools should cut staff and think about downsizing its footprint because of dwindling enrollment and spend more for the education of low-income students who fell further behind their peers during this school year, according to a report from the New Mexico Legislature made public Wednesday. The report from the powerful Legislative Finance Committee recommended …

New Mexico boosts its free college program, at least for now
2 years, 8 months ago

New Mexico boosts its free college program, at least for now

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Even after failing a test that set her back a semester, Maribel Rodriguez will be heading back to nursing school next spring with a generous new state scholarship that abandons eligibility criteria to help more working adults get a college degree. New Mexico is expanding its “Opportunity Scholarship,” which has already paid for Rodriguez’s tuition and …

Lawmakers approve $10k raises for many New Mexico teachers
2 years, 10 months ago

Lawmakers approve $10k raises for many New Mexico teachers

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — A measure that will increase minimum salaries for New Mexico teachers and counselors by as much as 22% cleared its final legislative hurdle late Monday with a unanimous vote in the House. She is expected to sign it and has been touting it the largest increase in pay for New Mexico teachers in years. Teachers and …

California schools face funding crisis as student population declines
2 years, 11 months ago

California schools face funding crisis as student population declines

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom projected another year of record funding for schools during his budget presentation on Monday but warned that some districts could be in financial trouble as student enrollment continues to decline. Newsom’s budget proposal pointed to a state population decline driven by plummeting birth rates that have “eroded” K-12 enrollment projections, and proposed tweaking California’s decades-old education funding formula …

New Mexico education official seeks $6M budget increase
3 years, 1 month ago

New Mexico education official seeks $6M budget increase

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Public Education Department is asking state lawmakers for a $6.7 million budget increase, citing the need to address an ongoing lawsuit that centers on accusations that the state is failing to meet constitutional obligations to provide essential educational opportunities to all students. State Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus is expected to release an action …

Are New Mexico students learning? Hard to say without tests
3 years, 2 months ago

Are New Mexico students learning? Hard to say without tests

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Public Education Department officials say few grade-school students participated in state testing last year and that it is impossible to measure learning loss from the pandemic. On Monday, the New Mexico Education Department said that only 10% of elementary and middle school students took tests last spring despite schools being fully open at the …

Albuquerque schools budget for teacher loans, fewer students
3 years, 3 months ago

Albuquerque schools budget for teacher loans, fewer students

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico’s largest school district wants to use federal pandemic funding to prevent staff layoffs. A proposal from Albuquerque Public Schools released Monday would direct $50 million in pandemic relief to offset a loss of state money tied to enrollment decline. Superintendent Scott Elder said in a video conference the district lost around 5,000 students and around …

How New Mexico schools are spending $1B in pandemic funding
3 years, 3 months ago

How New Mexico schools are spending $1B in pandemic funding

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — An avalanche of federal money is allowing New Mexico school districts to buy items long on their wish lists — particularly in schools with large populations of low-income students. The highest average per student amount in New Mexico was $15,000 in Wagon Mound, a small rural district where all children are eligible for Title I, a …

‘Lost cause’: New Mexico students have fewer school days
3 years, 3 months ago

‘Lost cause’: New Mexico students have fewer school days

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico students have fewer school days than other children in the U.S., and a decade of research and investment by state officials hasn’t changed that fact. In a legislative hearing Thursday, one expert called extra learning a “lost cause,” suggesting that children won’t recover academically from the pandemic because school districts have declined to add …

Pandemic windfall for US schools has few strings attached
3 years, 3 months ago

Pandemic windfall for US schools has few strings attached

Associated Press  

As the federal government releases historic sums of pandemic aid to the nation’s schools, it’s urging them to dream big, to invest in seismic changes that will benefit students for generations to come. “Now with the COVID relief, we’re going to be able to put a significant dent into the challenge.” The administration has encouraged schools to take leaps, not …

New Mexico gives most US funding to child care of any state
3 years, 5 months ago

New Mexico gives most US funding to child care of any state

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico is directing the nation’s biggest chunk of federal coronavirus relief money to helping middle-class families pay for child care, a vast expansion aimed at getting parents back to work in one of the poorest states in America. She added that the state could one day go even further: “Why don’t we have universal access …

New Mexico home schoolers drive drop in enrollment, funding
3 years, 5 months ago

New Mexico home schoolers drive drop in enrollment, funding

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Home schooling nearly doubled in New Mexico last year as thousands of parents opted out of virtual learning programs offered in public schools. The home-schooling data validates a Census survey that found home schooling doubled in New Mexico and across the U.S. Because federal and state education funding is pegged to student enrollment, a retreat from …

New Mexico lawmakers OK more school time, fewer mandates
3 years, 9 months ago

New Mexico lawmakers OK more school time, fewer mandates

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Legislators are advancing a plan to make up for lost learning time during the pandemic by paying teachers for additional learning time — but they won’t mandate an extended school calendar. On Wednesday, the House education committee voted unanimously to recommend a Senate bill that tackles extended learning after the sponsor loosened requirements for the programs …

How education funding could change in New Mexico
3 years, 11 months ago

How education funding could change in New Mexico

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Legislature is expected to increase near-term education funding and pursue long-term reforms that will change how schools are funded. Michelle Lujan Grisham and legislative researchers have recommended increases in education funding to overcome learning losses and enrollment declines caused by the pandemic. With the vast majority of students learning remotely since March, the …

New Mexico lawmakers look for solutions to hobbled economy
3 years, 11 months ago

New Mexico lawmakers look for solutions to hobbled economy

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico lawmakers confronted daunting challenges as they began a 60-day session Tuesday amid an unrelenting coronavirus pandemic and concerns of violence at a Statehouse guarded by troops and encircled by fencing, barricades and mobile security cameras. “We can do this together.” House Republican leaders said their priority will be proposals that allow students to return …

America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight
4 years, 2 months ago

America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight

NPR  

America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight Enlarge this image LA Johnson/NPR LA Johnson/NPR Back in May, school funding experts predicted a looming financial disaster for the nation's K-12 schools. "I think we're about to see a school funding crisis unlike anything we have ever seen in modern history," warned Rebecca Sibilia, the founder …

Enrollment drop could hurt funding for New Mexico schools
4 years, 3 months ago

Enrollment drop could hurt funding for New Mexico schools

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Members of the Legislative Education Study Committee heard pleas Wednesday to keep up school funding, even if enrollment is dropping because of the pandemic. School funding in New Mexico is determined by the number of students enrolled at the 40-day mark, known by some educators as the “money count.” That count is not yet complete, but …

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