NMPED News:

SANTA FE — The Public Education Department is seeking public feedback on a draft document summarizing the state’s ongoing and comprehensive plan to transform New Mexico’s education system in response to a court’s findings in the Martinez-Yazzie Consolidated Lawsuit over education equity. 

Under the direction of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the department created the 53-page “Discussion Draft Action Plan: Decisions about Martinez/Yazzie v. State of New Mexico.” It outlines progress since she took office in 2019 and sets goals for further improvements to recruit a diverse educator workforce and assure equity for each of the student groups named in the lawsuit: Native American students, English learners, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. Together, those four groups make up 70% of New Mexico students in the state’s 33 counties.

“Every single New Mexico child deserves access to a high quality education,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham, whose administration has provided the largest school support budgets and educator pay raises in state history. “While our advancements over the last three years has been significant, this report outlines the critical work that we will continue to do to ensure our educational system is working for all the students in our state.”

“This administration is fully committed to giving every New Mexico child a world-class education,” Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus said. “This draft document records three years of work getting us on course and sets specific targets for what remains to be done. It’s a blueprint for a new approach to education going forward, and we encourage all New Mexicans to review this and tell us how we can make the final version even better.”

The public can comment in writing at draft.actionplan@state.nm.us through June 17. The final document will closely align with the Public Education Department’s Comprehensive Strategic Plan completed earlier this year. The two documents will guide budgetary and programmatic decision-making with a single-minded focus on one goal: To assure that all students meet their full potential regardless of race, ethnicity, income or background.

“This plan represents great progress, and we are eager to dive deeper and continue this partnership and work for the benefit of our students to secure promising futures for them,” Pueblo of Picuris Gov. Craig Quanchello said.

While the strategic plan provides a comprehensive overview of the department’s vision, mission, goals and strategic priorities for the next five years, the Discussion Draft Action Plan provides a more targeted view of the administration’s work to date, upcoming plans and performance goals to address specific findings in the Martinez/Yazzie court ruling.

“The Martinez/Yazzie Discussion Draft Action Plan is not just a plan for the future; it also reflects all the work that’s taken place since the beginning of this administration, and it challenges all of us with strong performance targets to move the needle on key student outcomes,” Steinhaus said. “Although there is still much to be done, it’s important to recognize how much has already been accomplished to address the lawsuit.”

The Discussion Draft Action Plan lists dozens of accomplishments to date to attract and retain teachers and to provide equity for each of the four student groups.

That long list includes:

• Educator pay raises;
• Equity Councils;
• A new special education ombud;
• A new teacher evaluation system, Elevate NM;
• Funding increases for community schools and the Indian Education Fund; and
• Incentives for school participation in extended learning time programs.

“You can look no further than the smile on a child to see the work that is being done to date in addressing Yazzie v. Martinez,” said Adam Garcia Amador, chairman of the PED’s Hispanic Education Advisory Council and principal of R.V. Traylor Elementary in Lordsburg. “School resources and personnel are being operationalized to maximize student success. Work through equity councils and school leadership teams engage and give agency to the science of learning that comes from the community. Through this input, our stakeholders are able to direct us to innovate teaching, leadership, and learning in every district throughout the state to validate our teachers and make our students No. 1.” 

“The Indian Education Advisory Council looks forward to reviewing the action plan draft and collaborating with tribal leaders to provide NMPED with feedback to ensure that there are accountability measures in place as districts and charters work to address the full spectrum of Indigenous students’ needs,” said Kim Lanoy-Sandoval, chair of the Indian Education Advisory Council

“As part of the New Mexico Public Education Department’s state-wide response to Martinez/Yazzie, I have been very pleased with developments after Governor Lujan Grisham signed into statute the Black Education Act,” said Arlen Nelson, Equity and Engagement coordinator for Albuquerque Public Schools. “Part of this act was the development of the Anti-Racism Anti Oppression hotline. This hotline has served as a tool for all Martinez/Yazzie identified role groups and all role groups across the state, allowing New Mexicans to have direct access to PED staff serving as resources to support improved communication between families, schools and districts with an expectation for thought partnership and collaborative resolution.”

Together, the two documents outline an official path to transform education in New Mexico to prioritize all students and build state and local capacity to meet their diverse social, emotional and academic needs.

Both documents acknowledge past failures of New Mexico’s education system and outline strategies for continued compliance with the 2018 court order that summarized those failings and demanded vast improvements.

The Martinez/Yazzie Discussion Draft Action Plan establishes four long-term goals for New Mexico’s public education system:

• To assure that race, language, economic status and family situations do not result in lower rates of academic and career success;
• To increase academic proficiency in math, science and languages;
• To eliminate achievement gaps among groups of students; and
• To respect, honor and preserve students’ home languages and cultures. 

The Discussion Draft Action Plan lists targeted outcomes for educator recruitment and for each of the student groups in sections that include data snapshots, current program funding, non-monetary support, future plans and targets for improvement.

For example, the overview on Native American students emphasizes language and cultural preservation and sets a goal to prioritize tribal consultation. The data snapshot shows the graduation rate for Native American students and their proficiency rates in reading and math. One future plan is for the Public Education Department to develop and implement community-based Native American language programs. One target for improvement is to increase reading and math proficiency rates by 50 percent by the end of the 2025-26 school year.

The Discussion Draft Action Plan concludes with a similar analysis of wide-ranging strategies that are being used to support better outcomes for all students and incorporate the work of other state agencies: early childhood education and care; extended learning time programs; research-based reading programs; college and career readiness; technology; and supporting student wellness, both physical and mental, through counselors, social workers and other non-instructional staff.