Let's Talk New Mexico, 4/22 8a: In 2018, a judge ruled in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit that New Mexico was failing to provide an equitable education to students who are low-income, Native American, have disabilities or are English language learners. This meant that the state is in direct violation of the education clause in the New Mexico Constitution.
The decision from Judge Sarah Singleton pointed to the evidence of low test scores and graduation rates, the lack of culturally appropriate curriculum, and high rates of college remediation. She said every student has the right to be college or career ready.
However, almost seven years later, the state is still out of compliance with that ruling. The plaintiffs filed a new motion late last year with the court asking for a remedial action plan to meet the requirements of the original ruling.
The plaintiff’s are citing persisting poor student outcomes, lack of accountability and turnover at the New Mexico Public Education Department, inequitable funding for students deemed “at-risk”, teacher workforce issues and a lack of student support.
Some of the key action items in the drafted plan include cultivating multicultural and multilingual education, implementing an equitable funding system, and transforming curriculum and instructional approaches to just name a few.
On this week’s Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll dive deeper into the remedial plan and discuss why the state has lagged on its promise to implement the Yazzie/Martinez ruling. And we want to hear from you! Do you have a student who is directly impacted by the Yazzie/Martinez ruling? What would you like to see changed? Or are you worried about your students' academic success? Email us at LetsTalk@kunm.org, leave a voice message by clicking the button below, or call in live Thursday morning at 8.
GUESTS:
- Wilhelmina Yazzie, plaintiff, parent advocate
- Loretta Trujillo, Executive Director, Transform Education New Mexico
- Travis McKenzie, Teacher
- Andrés Uribe, Student Advocate
