Governor Sends Budget Back to House - Action Could Cause Problem for Southwest Learning Center

On Tuesday, Governor Martinez met with legislative leaders and asked them to re-look at the proposed state budget. It is reported that Governor Martinez is unhappy with the depth of cuts to education, medicare, and the corrections department.  The legislative leadership agreed to evaluate some of her concerns and sent the bill back to the House Appropriations Committee for further review.

The Governor would like to see the state lower the subsidy provided to the film industry when they film in New Mexico.  Currently the state reimburses film producers 25% of the money they spend in New Mexico while shooting a film.  The Governor would like to see this reduced to 15%.  The Albuquerque Journal reported today that in 2010, the state reimbursed $65 million dollars to film companies.  The proposed reduction would have presumably saved the state $6.5 million last year.  However, opponents argue that reducing the film credit will drive producers out of New Mexico.  Thus, the actual savings will be considerably less and more New Mexicans will be out of work as a result of the industry moving to other states.

This is important to the Southwest Learning Center because the original budget bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee did not contain any provisions to eliminate the small school size funding for charter schools and districts that house multiple schools in a building.  In order to meet the Governor’s request to limit cuts to education, corrections, and medicare, the funds will need to come from somewhere.  This puts the elimination of the small school size funding back in play.  We are asking all parents, grandparents, friends, and supporters to watch the proposals coming out of the House Appropriations Committee carefully.  If the small school size adjustment is brought back into play and eliminated, the three schools that make up the Southwest Learning Center (Southwest Primary, Southwest Intermediate, and Southwest Secondary) will be forced to either move or close. 

Neither option is a good one.  Moving will cost the taxpayers of New Mexico more money in the long run as facility, administration, insurance, transportation, utility costs, etc are all triplicated.  It will disrupt the educational process significantly.  Closing is even less appealing as 500+ students will be forced to change schools, 40+ people will be out of work and many families will be negatively impacted.  Furthermore, the results the Southwest Learning Center achieve continue to break the mold with no achievement gap and the highest test scores in the state on the standards based assessment.  We will continue to monitor this budget situation carefully and keep parents informed of any changes.

Finally, we want to also alert you to a rumor that has begun to spread.  It is believed that once the budget is passed from the House to the Senate, budget leaders in the Senate will move to add language to “correct inefficiencies in the funding formula”.  This is legislative language to remove the small school funding for schools that share facilities and to limit charter schools from receiving growth units when their populations increase significantly.  Charters continue to experience large growth as more parents become aware of their successes and apply to charters.  The Southwest Learning Center currently has more than 3700 students on the waiting list to get in!  Rumor has it that the most likely places this language will be inserted are in the Senate Finance Committee or when the two chambers meet in conference committee to resolve discrepancies in the budgets. 

SLC Students Honored by the State of New Mexico

On Monday, the Math and Science Bureau at the New Mexico Public Education Department released their annual awards for the top achieving schools and teachers in New Mexico.  For the 5th consecutive year, the Southwest Learning Center captured many top honors.

In Southwest Secondary, last year's 7th grade students (current 8th graders) had the highest year-over-year gains in the state.  Congratulations to teacher Mike Weber and all of the SSLC 8th grade students for this accomplishment.

In Southwest Primary, last year's 5th graders (current 6th graders) had the highest percentage of students performing at "proficient" or "advanced" in mathematics in the state.  Congratulations to teacher Coreen Carrillo and all of the current 6th graders!

Also in Southwest Primary, last year's 4th graders (current 5th graders) had the highest percentage of students performing at "proficient" or "advanced" in both mathematics and science in the state.  Congratulations to teacher Debbie Doxtator and all of this year's 5th grade students.  We want to issue a special congratulations to teacher Debbie Doxtator.  2011 marks the 5th consecutive year that her students have earned the top spot in math and science for the state of New Mexico!

Congratulations to all of the students and all of the teachers!  The state legislature plans a one-hour ceremony  in honor of SLC students and teachers on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 12:00 noon in the State Capitol Building Rotunda.  Students and teachers will meet their legislators, the school's representatives and have an opportunity to talk about what makes SLC special.  Please plan to attend and support the students and SLC teachers as they are honored for their accomplishments!

More Money for Classrooms

This is the last in a four part series analyzing Governor Martinez's plan to reform New Mexico's educational system - from the perspective of practitioners. 

Governor Susana Martinez has this to say about sending more money to New Mexico classrooms: “We can no longer afford to fund programs that leave our kids unprepared for the rigors of college and the workforce. We must get a better return on our investment in education.” According to the budget officers group, the United States spent a grand total of $337.4 billion on education for fiscal year 2010. On average, one in three dollars in state government goes to fund primary and secondary education. For fiscal year 2010, New Mexico spent over $2 billion dollars on education.  With all of the tax dollars that go toward education in New Mexico, taxpayers have every right to demand better returns for their investment.

Currently, New Mexico ranks at the bottom of the list as far as educational achievement. Governor Martinez says, “New Mexico is 49^th in the nation in education because there is more of a focus on throwing money into the system instead of simply improving student education.” Currently, only 61 cents of every education dollar spent in New Mexico makes it to the classroom. Nearly a third of education spending goes to what Governor Martinez refers to as “the bureaucracy”: people who are not in the classroom teaching every day. As part of her “Kids First, New Mexico Wins” reform plan, Governor Martinez wants to put less of the education budget into the bureaucracy and put more money toward students and meeting their needs.

Governor Martinez has asked school districts in New Mexico to cut 1.5 percent of unnecessary administrative costs, increasing the percentage of funding available for classroom spending. While some districts have argued that there is no wasteful spending and nowhere to cut in administration, Governor Martinez pointed this out: “APS principals are making three to four times more money than teachers and its schools are still failing.” She added that bloated administration and bureaucracy could be found at every one of its schools.

At Southwest Learning Centers, ensuring funds get to the classroom is a top priority. According to the schools’ business manager, nearly 80 cents of every dollar goes straight to the classroom. The focus at Southwest Learning Center is providing students with a solid education and other opportunities that will help them succeed in the future.  By pushing such a high percentage of funds directly toward student education, Southwest Learning Center is able to provide innovative programs such as the student flight program. Because students and learning are the priorities at Southwest, students are much more successful than in nearly any other public school in New Mexico.

New Mexico’s students deserve more from the public education system than wasteful bureaucracies and imprudent spending. Taxpayers need spending priorities to be put in place to guarantee a better return on education investments. Governor Martinez’s plan will ensure positive results in education by securing access to quality schools and teachers for every New Mexico student.