STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT: CHRISTINE TRUJILLO
Over the next week, lawmakers must address the following facts during the special session: The student funding unit value cuts ($60 per unit), which they passed last January, have not worked. We’re right back where we started, another budget deficit. This time at least $500 million, maybe more. Read more. 
*Op-Ed submitted to Albuqerque Journal - unpublished.

New Mexico's Conference of Catholic Bishops are supporting statewide efforts by organized labor, community organizations, businesses and faith groups to stop education and other budget cuts. In an historic op-ed, the bishops made a public plea to state lawmakers and the governor to stop the budget cuts that are hurting our children and our communities. READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

Excerpt from Albuquerque Journal
September 24, 2009
By Allen Sanchez
New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops
      These are difficult times, and many families are feeling the pain of the recession in their daily lives. Far too many New Mexicans are struggling to make ends meet even though they are working hard. They lack health care and other basic support systems that most of us take for granted. They are the real people that we read about in our newspapers, and whose faces we see in our parishes throughout our state. We also see our elected leaders making choices — like cutting the budget instead of raising new revenue — that will further hurt our working families' programs.

Have you seen AFT New Mexico in the news? Do you know what our union leaders are saying? AFT New Mexico leaders are standing firm on AFT New Mexico's position for lawmakers to balance the budget by repealing tax breaks that are hurting school children.  

September 2009 - Over the past year, AFT New Mexico has worked with other unions, community organizations, and faith groups in a coalition, Better Choices New Mexico, to advocate that state lawmakers choose funding public education and public services by looking at long-term budget solutions - including rolling tax breaks that have outlived their usefulness. This article offers comprehensive resources for you to download and share about what we are doing to fight for New Mexico's future.

Lawmakers will convene in October to make more budget cuts to education and other public services. We have less than twenty days. Check out the twenty days, twenty ways campaign. We are offering lawmakers twenty ways to shore up the budget.

New Mexicans have been consistent in their views of favoring adequate education funding over spending on tax breaks and abatements. According to voters, cutting education is not ok. Polling results are clear. When New Mexicans are given the choice to fund education and prevent cuts versus keeping tax breaks on the books -  voters overwhelmingly prefer funding education.  Read more.

Unlike the majority of states, New Mexico funds public schools primarily through state funding. However, it is deceptively simple to look at a proposed budget for NM Public Schools. It's easy to assume that districts receive dollar for dollar the amounts in a budget. In reality, the majority of funds flow through a weighted formula that affects the ultimate dollar amount distributed to schools. It pays to understand the process.