The plaintiffs in the landmark education equity case, Yazzie/Martinez v. The State of New Mexico are asking the court for permission to revise the state’s current implementation plan. Attorney Alisa Diehl spoke about what a stronger plan might look like for New Mexico students.
ALISA DIEHL: So, the court ordered the state to come up with a plan to fix the long standing problems in education. Communities across New Mexico shared deep knowledge and expertise about what works for students. The state put forward a plan last year, but unfortunately, it doesn't reflect that wisdom or even really clearly show how the needed changes will actually reach schools. So, we have asked just recently, the court to let us work with the state and community experts to revise and strengthen the plan into something that can actually be carried out into classrooms across the state. And really at the end of the day, it comes down to this, when a student walks into a school, do they actually have what they need or not?
KUNM: I know this is something that has been ongoing since 2018, so at this point what is the court looking for in a plan?
DIEHL: Fundamentally, it has to come down to community expertise, the knowledge that we have within our state that has been shared for generations about what our students need to really succeed and to thrive in college career and beyond. And if that isn't central to a plan, we are not going to have something that really moves our state forward to comply with the [New Mexico] constitution and comply with state law.
KUNM: You just said this is something that’s moving right now and you all are asking to work alongside the state to get a strong plan through. But is there any timeline you can share?
DIEHL: At this juncture, we are just waiting for, hopefully, the judge to agree to hear our requests. We would have the chance to have a hearing before the judge and make arguments about our position and what we're asking for, and we anticipate that happening in the next couple of months.
KUNM: On that note, how unusual is it for a court to stay involved in something like education policy implementation years after a ruling?
DIEHL: Really what that comes down to is that this case is about equity, not just for our students, but in a legal sense too. And so it's the duty of a court to continue to oversee a process to ensure that a constitutional right is fully realized. The court has made very clear that it will continue to do that until the state really creates a system that meets the needs of our kids.
KUNM: A report from the Public Education Department showed that the state over the last five years has seen a $1.3 billion dollar increase in funding education. Which has gone towards the initiatives laid out in Yazzie/Martinez. Why do you think implementation has been slow even with this increase in funding?
DIEHL: New Mexico is surely equipped. We have a wealth of expertise and knowledge and deep love and commitment to our students, to our children. So that is certainly not the issue. What it comes down to, though, is that unless we have a framework to know where we're trying to get that's really based on the expertise of our communities, funding alone isn't going to get the job done, as we've seen.
KUNM: What would a true resolution of Yazzie/Martinez look like?
DIEHL: Really it's that vision for what education could be for our students, that New Mexico has the potential to be really groundbreaking in the country for a multicultural, multilingual education that really embraces all that our students bring to a classroom. And so I think that that is what all parents and families and communities and students themselves hope for what public education looks like. And so that is what we continue to look towards as a finish line, if you will.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg and listeners like you.
