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End of Session Summary |
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Remarkable
Legislative Session Ends on High Note for Public Schools The
legislature ended with a signed budget for the first time since Bruce King
was Governor! The only
special session contemplated is one all sides agree is needed, a fall
session to revamp New Mexico's tax code. Most observers agreed, given the national scene and New Mexico's finances, public schools faired very well. First, no "bad" legislation even came close to passage. Vouchers and private school tax credits never made it past even one committee hearing. Anti-union bills like so-called "pay check protection" measures never even surfaced. Attacks on school employee due process were scuttled by Republican members of the Senate Education Committee! Funding
Agreements Give All School Employees a Raise! Education
funding agreements reached through negotiations, which included NEA-New
Mexico representatives at every step of the way, produced a compromise
General Appropriations Act
that includes appropriations for the first year of a five-year salary
increase plan for teachers, a 6% salary increase for teachers teachers and instructional
staff, such as librarians, counselors, special ed ancillary, etc. (beginning
in December and continuing into the next school year), a $30,000 minimum
salary for teachers (also beginning in December), and at least a 3% raise
for all other employees. During
the first year (effective no later than the last pay period in December
2003), all teachers in New Mexico will have salaries at or above $30,000.
Over the next four years, the plan will raise all Level I, II, and
III teachers minimum salaries to $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000,
respectively. The
legislature also added money for districts
to place Nationally Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) on Salary
Schedules with an increment; state funding equal to 1.5 funding units
(about $3000) will be given to districts for each NBCT. The Act requires resource allocation of $18 million (or one percent) by schools into direct instruction. It also requires the use of $16.4 million in cash balances to support the State Equalization Guarantee (SEG). This is to fund school year 2003-94 appropriations for education, including the three-tiered licensure structure and a six percent increase for teachers and other instructional staff. Addition program funding includes $4 million available for art in the schools, $2 million to support the Indian Education Act, $4.473 million for enrollment growth program units, $11 million for the fourth year of the full-day kindergarten phase-in, $900,000 for teacher mentoring, $500,000 for Strengthening Quality in Schools and $900,000 for RE:Learning. School
Districts Must Use Cash Wisely for Intended Purposes! We achieved a long-standing goal to force a hard look at school district cash balances. In addition to the use of $16.4 million in cash balances to support 2003-04 funding, House Bill 745, titled Limit School District Cash Balances, sponsored by Representative Rick Miera, creates an incentive for school districts and charter schools to spend operational revenues for the purposes intended while enabling them to retain sufficient funds to have a practical level of cash flow at the start of a new school year. The bill amends the Public School Finance Act to set limits on the operational cash balances of school districts and charter schools based on their current year program costs effective FY 06; defines and prescribes the method of calculating excess case balances and requires that credit be taken for them; requires the state superintendent to adjust School Equalization Guarantee distributions based on the credits; allows exceptions based on growth needs; and prohibits school districts and charter schools from budgeting current year cash balances without the approval of the state superintendent. After
Years of Hard Work and Compromise, Meaningful Reform! Education
reform legislation, stymied for four years by the previous governor
finally passed! House
Bill 212,
Public School Reform, which took effect immediately upon signing on April
4, addresses a number of issues in our joint legislative agenda.
Here are a few of the highlights from the bill: ·
Establishing
a three-tiered licensure system for teachers and increasing competencies
for each level of licensure; ·
Removing
local board control of issues surrounding employment, dismissal, salaries
and staffing patterns as well as instructional functions; ·
Aligning
teacher preparation and professional development programs with the
multicultural needs of students; ·
Targeting
recruitment strategies to ensure that the pool of teachers more closely
reflects the demographics of the student populations they serve; ·
Ensuring
that curriculum, instruction and assessment incorporate New Mexico's
cultural strengths and diversity; ·
Capping
school district and charter school cash balances; ·
Requiring
assessments to provide grade-level and skill-specific reading proficiency
information in grades K-2; ·
Allowing
the methodology for the State Improving Schools Program to be based on
Adequate Yearly Progress in addition to other non-academic indicators; ·
Requiring
training for local board members pertaining to legally assigned powers and
duties; ·
Establishing
a professional licensing framework for Instructional Support Providers
(educational assistants, librarians, school counselors, social workers,
school nurses and other ancillary personnel); ·
Allowing
local school boards to establish additional indicators other than adequate
yearly progress of the district's performance in local report cards; ·
Providing
parents with information about the professional qualifications of their
child's teacher(s) and educational assistants; ·
Requiring
that one of the three mathematics credits for high school graduation be
equivalent to the algebra 1 level or higher; ·
Requiring
students entering the ninth grade, beginning in the 2005-2006 school year,
to complete three units in science, one of which shall have a laboratory
component; and ·
Creating
a family and youth advisory committee and family and youth resources
program to help students attain high academic achievement by meeting
certain nonacademic needs. The major effect of the bill is to elevate the teaching profession and help New Mexico expand the supply and improve the quality of New Mexico's teachers. First, the system enhances the profession of teaching by allowing teachers to rise in respect, responsibilities and remuneration as they gain increasing competence throughout their careers. Second, the three-tiered licensure system addresses accountability (and moves New Mexico teacher evaluation into compliance with federal requirements) by implementing a highly objective uniform statewide standard of evaluation for all teachers. Public
Gets Chance to Stand Up for Public Schools in Special Election The
Legislature also passed SJR
6 to place on the ballot this fall a constitutional amendment to boost
the annual distribution from the Permanent School Fund to five percent to
help fund education reform. It then would increase to 5.8 percent for
fiscal years 2005-2012. The distribution rate then would drop to 5.5
percent for fiscal years 2013-2016, after which it would decrease to five
percent. 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 5%. The change, if approved
by the voters, will provide more than $600,000,000 in new money for public
schools over the next twelve years! The Constitutional amendment requested by the Governor to create a Secretary of Education appointed by the Governor proposes an amendment to Article XII, Section 6, of the Constitution of New Mexico to transfer the State Department of Education to a cabinet department headed by a secretary of public education who shall serve in the executive cabinet and to create an elected public education commission. The secretary would be a qualified, experienced educator appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. If the public passes the constitutional amendment, according to enabling legislation passed, Senate Bill 911, the secretary of education will temporarily assume the powers and duties of both the state board of education and the state superintendent of public instruction until July 1, 2004. The expectation is that the 2004 legislature will rewrite relevant portions of the public school code, many of which are automatically repealed on July 1, 2004 by Senate Bill 911. The ten elected members of the State Board of Education will become the State Public Education Commission, with powers and duties to be determined by law. Many of the powers and duties of the Secretary of Education will also be determined by law after the effects of the enabling legislation sunset in July 2004. Both of these amendments will go before the voters on Tuesday, September 23, per HB 310, signed by the governor. How
Do You Spell Respect? C-o-l-l-e-c-t-i-v-e B-a-r-g-a-i-n-i-n-g And
finally, public employees received the respect they deserve, when Governor
Bill Richardson signed public
employee collective bargaining legislation early
in the legislative session! On Friday,
March 7, the Governor signed collective bargaining legislation sponsored
by House Speaker Ben Lujan and Senate President Pro-temp Richard Romero.
The law restores public employees’ rights to negotiate agreements
with management. Public
employees lost those rights in 1999 when Gary Johnson vetoed legislation
that would have extended collective bargaining rights.
State and local governments, including school districts, will now
be required to bargain with labor organizations representing public
employees. The legislation, which takes effect on July 1, contains
language that: On signing the legislation,
Governor Richardson stated, “As we saw during 9-11, public employees
courageously put their lives on the line for all of us.
Yet, even in New Mexico we took our public employees for granted. Those days are gone. Every
day there are hundreds of State Police officers, corrections officers and
others who provide public safety and security for all of us.
We have thousands of educators who have tremendous responsibilities
to teach our children. And there are thousands of public employees who keep our
state and local governments running and working for the people of New
Mexico every day. All of
those valued employees deserve a fair shake when it comes to negotiating
salaries, workplace safety and other aspects of the jobs they perform.” Congratulate yourself for your hard work in last fall's election and for your efforts to influence the Legislature and Governor. That effort made sure that the policy makers measured up for public schools and public school employees! Legislative Education Study Committee Final Summary of Education Legislation Detailed Summary of the Education Reform Act, House Bill 212 State Superintendent's Letter to School Districts on Implementing 2003 Legislation Link to Details on New Mexico's New Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law |
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