Nearly $388 million in new money is projected for the budget year that starts in July 2008. That's the estimated amount of money that lawmkaers can use to increase the state's operating budget and to offset tax cuts.

Las Cruces, NM - In early May, the bus drivers for Durham School Services, who tranport k-12 children in the Las Cruces Public Schools, organized over forty members and showed up to a Las Cruces School Board meeting to send a strong message: “SAFETY MUST COME BEFORE PROFIT.”  Organizing paid off. The private company has conceded to their demands.

The House approved a minimum wage bill this weekend that put the hourly minimum at $7.50 by 2009. The bill must get approval from the Senate before it reaches the governor's desk.

The Senate and House have passed the Conference Report on the budget. The budget is now on its' way to the Governor's desk. Read more.

Find a full listing of election results by clicking here.

The New Mexico Public Education Department, The Broad Foundation and National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) are pleased to release NCEA’s Executive Summary of the 2005 Just for the Kids Best Practice Institute featuring practices of New Mexico public elementary schools.

New Mexico was among 20 states that participated in 2005 Just for the Kids (JFTK) Best Practice Studies and Institutes designed to inform improvement efforts based on the exemplary practices found in higher performing schools and systems. Through this report of the practices of elementary schools that are successful in raising student achievement, schools in need of improvement can gain direct and practical insight from schools in New Mexicoand other states.

How does your legislator add up when it comes to public schools? Find out.

There are some union critics who claim that employees just don’t have it in them to unionize by themselves anymore.  They’re wrong.  Last November, a group pf physical plant department employees in the Las Cruces School District called Irma Valdespino, President of CSEC-LC, a joint AFT New Mexico and NEA-NM local union and asked for help.  Today, they are CSEC-LC’s newest collective bargaining unit.

Another bad policy idea born out of a national political think tank is coming our way. This one would cut vital support staff. The so-called 65% solution is being promoted by a group calling itself First Class Education and mandates that 65 cents of every education dollar be spent in the classroom. What sounds good as a catch phrase would be horrible in practice for students and educational employees. Find out why.

The 2006 session is over. Public education made significant gains during the session, particularly by the fact that local districts and local unions are now able to negotiate salary increases based on an "average." That means employees left out of the three-tiered system, may receive higher raises this year.

 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT PASSED AND FAILED.

When state higher education institutions put together a $429 capital outlay request, their request was responded to with a $308 million shortfall from the Department of Higher Education.

At a press conference on September 14th, Gov. Bill Richardson announced he wants to create financial incentives for parents to become more involved in their children's public schools.

The governor did not offer details of his plans but said at a news conference that he's considering a proposal to establish a tax credit for employers that allows parents time off to participate in school events.

During the 2005 legislative session, various proposals were passed in an attempt to fix what actuaries reported as a huge unfunded liability in our Educational Retirement Fund. One proposal that passed included increasing the employee and employer contributions to the retirement fund.

In addition, a moratorium on benefits enhancements was passed and a study of switching from a defined benefits plan to a defined contributions plan. The move to a defined contributions plan would be a bad move for school employees. Read the full article for specific bills that impact the ERB.

Public education is funded through three main sources in New Mexico. New Mexico is unique in how we fund our schools. Geographically, New Mexico is a rural state. In 1974, in order to ensure that no district was shortchanged funding based on it's size, the Legislature established the State Equalization Guarantee (SEG) -- the first and most progressive of it's kind in the nation.

In 2004 AFT New Mexico Vice-President Kathy Chavez led the union's statewide campaign to establish a statewide salary minimum for Educational Assistants. Today, this law is the springboard for our continuing efforts to bring paraprofessionals up to professional pay that matches the new requirements of NCLB.  

AFT New Mexico will return to the legislature next year to take the law further by establishing a tiered salary structure that compensates NM paraprofessionals for the new requirements of NCLB.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act established new educational requirements for paraprofessionals. All paraprofessionals who work in a program that receives Title I funds and who provide instructional support (including support for special-needs students in schoolwide projects) must meet the new requirements.

Paraprofessionals working at the time the law was enacted (Jan. 8, 2002) have until the end of the 2005/2006 school year to meet this requirement (the original deadline of Jan. 8, 2006, was extended by the Department of Education in late June 2005). Anyone hired after Jan. 8, 2002, should have met the requirements at the time of employment.