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Legislative
Session Contacts for Legislators-Phone: (505) 986-4300, Letters:
Link to State Department of Education Bill Analyses as .pdf documents Link to Details on New Mexico's New Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law Hearing on Constitutional Amendment for New Revenue Source Delayed Until Saturday Morning Technical problems delayed consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 6, sponsored by Senator Cynthia Nava in the House Voters and Elections Committee on Thursday morning. The measure will now be heard in the House Voters and Elections Committee on Saturday morning. We need to urge all members of this committee to pass this measure on to the full House and begin to urge all House members to support this important opportunity for voters to express their support for education. The members of this committee (clink on name for link to contact information) are:
As originally drafted, the measure would have placed a constitutional amendment before the voters to amend the state constitution to increase from 4.7 percent to 6.0 percent the amount of the annual distribution from the Permanent Fund to public schools and other recipients of money from the Permanent Fund, providing about 77 million new dollars annually for public schools. The measure was amended by Senator Manny Aragon to gain the needed support to pass the Senate. The amendments decrease the amount of money allotted from the permanent and gradually reduce that amount over 12 years. The amendments allot a 5% distribution for the rest of fiscal year 2004 (through June 30, 2004) a 5.8% distribution (the original measure had 6%) for eight years beginning July1, 2004 (about 65 million new dollars), then a 5.5% distribution for five years and a 5% distribution in perpetuity. The amendment also set a base of 5.8 billion dollars beneath which the permanent will not be allowed to drop; if the fund goes below this amount, the distribution rate reverts to 4.7%. Link to the Senate roll call vote, Yes-28; N0-14
We need to urge all House Members
to support Senate
Joint Resolution 6. Schools need adequate
new revenues, we can't find all the money need for salaries and reform
by simply reallocating current budgets (although prioritizing
salaries and the classroom over administrative costs is an important
priority). The use of cash balances and the need to fund the second year
of reform require new revenue! Memorials Requested by NEA-NM Pass Final Hurdles Three memorials supported by NEA-New Mexico finished their journeys through the legislative process on Thursday when they passed the Senate. House Memorial 56, sponsored by Representative Kandy Cordova requests the LESC to consider creating a funding mechanism for school library materials. House Joint Memorial 57, Effect of Paperwork on "Time to Teach," also sponsored by Representative Cordova, asks that the State Department of Education "develop procedures to allow schools to meet the paperwork requirements of the state's accountability system without adversely affecting an educator's "time to teach." Representative Jim Trujillo's House Joint Memorial 66 asks the State Department of Education to review safety plans, especially regarding after hours work by school employees. This memorial was introduced in response to a NEA Santa Fe (and constituent of Representative Trujillo) member's concerns over the murder of Albuquerque Public Schools employee Carolyn Thurman Rustvold. Senate Education Committee Tables Attack on Free Speech On Tuesday the Senate Education Committee rejected an ill-conceived memorial, SM 94, EXPRESSION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEE OPINIONS, sponsored by Republican Senator Sue Wilson-Beffort, designed to stifle school employee academic freedom and first amendment rights. Among other things the memorial asked that:
The vote to table this very bad idea was:
Senate Finance Passes Funding Fairness for Growing Districts The Senate Finance Committee gave a do-pass recommendation to House Bill 169, sponsored by Representative Tom Swisstack. This measure will provide funding for all new students in Districts growing at more than 1% per year. Currently those students are not funded under our finance system of providing funds based on prior year student numbers. This measure which goes to the Senate Floor corrects this inequity. We need to urge all Senators to support this important fairness legislation. School Reform Bill Awaiting Hearing in Senate Finance Committee House Bill 212, sponsored by Representative Mimi Stewart for the Legislative Education Study Committee, is the major reform measure supported by NEA-New Mexico for this legislative session. The Bill, representing the recommendations of the Education Reform Task Force, passed the House last Friday. Passage of this measure is also vital to completing the education reform agreements. The measure provides real reform including a new licensure system for teachers tied to minimum salary levels, which when fully implemented after five years, will provide $30,000 starting salary for level I licenses, $40,000 minimum salaries for level II licenses, and $50,000 minimum salaries for level III licenses. While the bill mainly addresses teachers, it is a good first step to comprehensive reform and is supported by most education advocacy groups. House Bill 212 awaits a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee; committee members are:
We need to urge members of this committee and all Senators to pass this important component of school reform.
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