Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham was surrounded by New Mexican students at the Roundhouse on Monday as she signed into law four education bills to support educators, promote more literacy and establish an Office of Special Education.
Last year, New Mexico’s reading scores ranked lowest in the country. These ongoing problems drove efforts by the governor and bipartisan lawmakers during this session to combat it.
“These legislators in particular are going to make sure that the state never falters. And while nationally literacy scores are continuing to fall, in New Mexico, they're continuing to escalate,” said Lujan Grisham. “Every student can learn to read. Every student will get support in every context.”
The High Quality Literacy Instruction Act will mandate “structured literacy" in K through 3rd. It’s an evidence-based approach to teaching reading. It will also include bilingual and dual language programs with culturally relevant materials.
Riley Goff, a third grade student at Santa Fe’s Atalaya Elementary School told the Governor that he struggled with reading before his teachers introduced structured literacy.
“Once I learned that, reading finally made sense to me,” he said. “Now I like reading, and I’m proud of myself.”
Other bills include the establishment of the Office of Special Education within the Public Education Department which will support students with disabilities. House Bill 47 will require the state to pay 80% of an educator’s health care premiums. And Senate Bill 29 will increase math requirements for teaching licenses.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
