AFT News:SANTA FE ― American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly released the following statement:
“The Governor’s farewell ‘State of the State’ address was an attempt to issue a parting shot at public educators – and their unions – for rejecting her so-called reforms which would have weakened the profession of education, hurt students, and erode hard-earned rights in their places of work.
“By doubling down on discredited reform policies – which other states are already moving away from, she does a disservice to not only our students, public educators, but also schools and institutions of higher education across our State. Failing to acknowledge the hard work of all public educators – from early education to higher education – she once again ignores the fact it’s New Mexico’s dedicated public educators who are responsible for making every statistic she touted possible.
“Making decisions based on arbitrary ratings has been a hallmark of this Governor’s administration, and her renewed push for non-teachers to instruct New Mexico public school students only deepens the crisis which our profession faces in our State, and for another year, we will vigorously oppose any effort to divide or disrespect our profession and weaken learning environments for students.
“We believe our educational system can be the best in the nation, but instead of starving our schools and places of learning by diverting funds away from public schools, we believe improvement starts by actually listening to New Mexico’s public educators, and not out-of-State, political sound bite reformers.
“If the Governor is looking for a legacy, she ought to promote policies and budgetary priorities which lift up all educators, students, and families instead of pursuing reforms which will only create a legacy of winners and losers in our communities.”
