susanamartinezeducation plan

8/9/2019 SusanaMartinezEducation Plan

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FOR IMMEDIATE

RELEASE:

August 11, 2010CONTACT:[email protected]

Contact Number: (505)872-2070

SUSANA MARTINEZS PLAN TO

REFORM EDUCATION

A Bold Agenda For Education In New Mexico

We start reforming our education system on day one of the MartinezAdministration. There is nothing more important we can do thanimplement real reform in our schools. The measure of our success will bewhen all New Mexico children have an opportunity to receive a quality

education that allows them to chase and realize their dreams.

We need to build real accountability into our education system. We havebred a culture of low expectations and we are failing a generation ofyoung minds. This is entirely unacceptable.

My approach to education will be to get more dollars out of thebureaucracy and into the classroom, hold students to high standards byeliminating social promotion and enacting other reforms, increaseaccountability and provide our best teachers with merit-based pay

increases. It is time for bold change in education.

FUNDING IN THE CLASSROOM, WHERE IT COUNTS

With the last approved budget, New Mexico spends over 45.2% of stategeneral funds on K-12 education. (Source: Legislative Finance Committee)


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We must learn to use our resources more intelligently and efficiently andprovide our children with an excellent education.

Out Of The Bureaucracy & Into The Classroom If we areasking more of our teachers, we have to give them the tools to get the jobdone that means more education dollars directly into our schools andclassrooms. Today, only 61% of New Mexicos education dollars get to theclassroom. We need 4% more going directly to the students in the formof the first-rate teachers, quality textbooks and the latest technology. Thiswould mean directing more resources in the area of $74 million into theclassroom. While student enrollment has increased by only 1.5% since the2002-2003 school year, the education budget has grown $728 milliondollars or 43%. We must get money out of the bloated bureaucracy andinto the classroom. (Sources: New Mexico Public Education Department &Legislative Finance Committee)

Efficiency Studies For Districts Every year businessesundertake rigorous audits and studies to understand how their resourcesare being used and where those resources can be applied in a moreefficient manner. Our school districts should undertake similar studies.These efficiency studies are not punitive in nature, but rather will help ourschool administrators better understand where and how to better allocateresources and get even more money to the classroom. The Public

Education Department, working in conjunction with LFC and LESC, cantake representative samples of districts with a wide cross section as anormal part of their work plan to look at efficiencies and cost savings.

Transparency In Budgeting When New Mexico sets its budgetat the beginning of every year, the instructional versus non-instructionaldollars for schools are not divided into separate categories. If we want tomake education spending more transparent and accountable and getmore money into the classroom -- we need to divide the budget into

instructional and non-instructional spending categories. This will ensurethat we have more detailed explanations of expenditures at the state level.

SETTING THE BAR HIGH: ENDING SOCIAL PROMOTION, RAISINGSTANDARDS, INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY


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The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows NewMexico at the bottom in performance comparisons to other states inoverall achievement and closing the achievement gap, despite spendingmore per student. (Source: Achievement Gap And The Three TieredSystem, LFC Report, June 2009)

We can do better we must do better in educating our students andclosing the achievement gap.

Ending Unearned Grade Advancement If students cannotread after the third grade, they lack the basic skills needed to help themlearn and they fall behind in school. From Kindergarten to third gradestudents are learning to read; from fourth grade on, students are readingto learn. We must focus on higher literacy rates among our students.

Many times students are passed on to the next grade level even thoughthey are not able to meet achievement standards. Simply put, studentswho are not achieving must be held back in order to help them meetstandards. The decision to hold a student back should not be based on asingle test; they should be given the opportunity to demonstrate theirmastery of the content in an alternative manner. And, we need to providethe opportunity for students to catch up through aggressive remedialaction.

Merit-Based Pay Increases For Teachers Private industry

uses financial incentives as a motivating factor in achieving results. Thesame reward model can be applied to education for high performingteachers. Financial incentives should be linked to achievement in theclassroom. Financial incentives can be further used to reward the highestperforming teachers who stay at, or relocate to, low-performing schoolsand experience measurable improvement in student achievement.

High Academic Standards We saddle our children with theburden of low expectations. If we want our children to achieve, we haveto set the bar high and provide an opportunity to succeed. Studentprogress should be measured every year and schools should be graded ontheir ability to meet student achievement standards and student progress.We must recognize success and identify problems to take corrective action.


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School Accountability The Legislative Finance Committeecurrently grades the Public Education Department on several performancestandards, but parents, students and teachers have no easy format tounderstand the performance of individual schools throughout the state.

We should adopt an easy to understand, easy to implement system ofgrading our schools based on the traditional school grading format.Schools will be assigned letter grades of A,B,C,D or F and these gradeswill be posted to an easily accessible Web site for parents, students andteachers to access, which will help to increase performance in our schoolsas well as increasing transparency in our school system. We can only takesteps to correct failure if we first identify it, and reward success if wemeasure it. New Mexico conducts annual testing in the state for grades 3-8 and grade 11. Currently, there are consequences under the federal NoChild Left Behind (NCLB) guidelines for schools that fail to meet certainstandards. But, interventions can take years. We need to take immediatecorrective steps to get schools and students achieving standards andmaking progress. Measuring student progress more often would evaluatenot only student achievement (achieving grade level standards), but wouldalso recognize progress in a student from year to year. This motivateschildren, parents, teachers and schools to continue to strive for excellence,whether they are an A or F school.

Immediate Intervention At Failing Schools We cannot waitfive years to fix schools that are failing. That means a whole class ofstudents has received an inadequate education. If a school is failing, weneed to begin working with that school immediately by developingstronger school curriculum, providing additional teacher support andtraining, working to attract high performing teachers to the school, provideremedial instruction to students who are struggling through summerschool and after school programs, and provide students and parents withschool options to make sure children get the education they deserve. Wewill not fund failure.

Ending Truancy While serving as District Attorney, weestablished a truancy program in Doa Ana County that held parents andstudents accountable for class attendance. Through a partnership withschools and law enforcement, we created a truancy program that ensuredstudents showed up for class and came prepared. We need to worktogether to make sure all of us are held accountable for the progress of


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our children.

EXPANDING K-12 OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS

If we are truly going to ensure that every child receives a good education,we have to expand the opportunities for children so they can reach theirfull potential.

Real School Choice We need to recognize that different studentslearn better in different educational environments. Every family shouldhave access to different educational opportunities, including charterschools, vocational schools, virtual classrooms or enhanced school choice.

No child should be trapped. The core mission of our education system isto make sure our children learn, graduate and are job-ready. We can onlyaccomplish this if we embrace different options that maximize the potentialof every child.

Tax Credit Scholarships Tuition tax credit scholarships for K-12students help provide greater educational opportunities for students whocannot otherwise afford them. New Mexico should provide tax credits toindividuals and corporations who contribute to non-profit organizations

that provide scholarships to low-income students. These donors wouldreceive a credit against their state taxes. The tuition tax credit would helpoffset the cost of K-12 schooling for these students, increasing schoolchoice and educational opportunities.

Scholarships For Students With Special Needs We mustprovide more educational choices for all students, but this is especially truefor students with disabilities. If a student has an Individual Education Plan(IEP) in place, and the parents of that student are not satisfied with the

progress the student is making, they will then become eligible for ascholarship which will allow them to transfer to another public school ortransfer to a private school. The scholarship would be equal in amount tothe funding received by the local school district for the individual studentor for the cost of the private schools fees and tuition, which ever cost isless. This will allow parents the flexibility in helping choose the besteducational opportunities for their children.


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Tax Credits For Summer Internships Many times, over thesummer, students lack ongoing learning opportunities. These studentstypically try to find summer jobs, but in these tough economic times mayhave difficulty doing so. In order to expand education opportunities,

particularly for low-income students, New Mexico should provide a taxcredit against state taxes to employers who provide summer internships.Not only will the internships provide employers with a labor forcethroughout the summer, but will also provide ongoing educationopportunities for students.

Alternative Teacher Licensure In New Mexico, we are blessedwith outstanding national laboratories, high tech businesses and thebrightest minds in the nation, especially in math and science. Currently, if

a professional in another field wants teach in New Mexico, their options ofadvancing to the classroom, regardless of their level of education, arefairly limited. We must take advantage of this wonderful resource andease the process of allowing these individuals to become teachers, whilemaintaining high standards. New Mexico can do this through expandingalternative teacher licensure. By removing barriers of entry into theclassroom for qualified individuals we can attract the best talent NewMexico has to offer.

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Paid for by Susana Martinez for Governor, Anna Emerick-Biad, Treasurer.

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