AFT President Randi Weingarten: Explain. Educate. Engage. Empower.
This is how we cultivate change at the roundhouse and in Congress!
Op-ed by Stephanie Ly, AFT New Mexico President
1/25/2014
This session brings opportunity to pass a fair teacher evaluation system and stop the obsession with standardized testing.
Four Pillars: A World-Class Education System for New Mexico contains narratives from educators and research regarding what policies should be implemented to support public education in New Mexico.
Today HB 67 was ruled germane which means it will move forward for consideration in the House. HB 67 raises the minimum salary levels in the three-tier licensure system by $10,000 in each tier by 2018. The last time there was a raise to the three-tier salary levels was in 2007.
On the first day of session, the issue of education was front and center, but instead of discussing growing classroom sizes, increasing poverty rates and the struggles that our students and families face daily, Governor Martinez again focused on third-grade retention and rating teachers by student test scores.
On January 20, 2014, hundreds of education advocates filled the Roundhouse in support of a collective vision for education reform. AFT President Stephanie Ly, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, Las Cruces student Jacqueline Parr Sanchez, and parent and community activist Raquel Roybal introduced the group's efforts to reach out to educators, parents, students and communities around the state to develop a statewide vision for education.
Albuquerque, NM--Statement of AFT New Mexico President Stephanie Ly (also a member of NEA New Mexico) on the shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell, NM: