Education Equity

The plaintiffs in a landmark equity education lawsuit are headed back to court Tuesday because they say the State of New Mexico has not complied with court orders.

In an age when misinformation abounds, and some try to change history to fit their political agendas, one national non-profit is seeking to create informed citizens who engage thoughtfully with civics and their place in history. KUNM’s Daniel Montano spoke with some of the students involved in National History Day, or NHD.

In 2019 a court found the state of New Mexico violated the constitutional rights of certain students through inadequate education. But New Mexico is still struggling to meet the remedies laid out by that court in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit. A policy analyst told lawmakers Tuesday this is true despite increases in education funding.

This upcoming legislative session advocates will focus on how to move New Mexico out of its last place ranking in education, especially as school districts across the state continue to see low test scores. Think New Mexico shares its legislative priorities, but also what New Mexicans want to see as a result of recent polling.

Members of the Legislative Education Study Committee told lawmakers this week they should take a closer look at suspension and expulsion rates for special education students, especially in light of huge increases in behavioral health issues.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is opening an investigation into disproportionately harsh punishment of Native American children by Gallup McKinley County Schools.

In New Mexico educational outcomes are low overall, and they’re even lower for special education. In May the Governor announced a new special education office to help improve those outcomes. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll discuss closing the achievement gap for special needs students.

The Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit is one of the biggest education court cases the state has ever seen. But advocates say, since its settlement, nothing has substantially changed. Lawyers from the Center on Law and Poverty hosted an information session recently to talk about their preparations to head back to court.

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 means that the state is in direct violation of the education clause in the New Mexico State Constitution.

New Mexico has improved in key areas of child well-being but our state is still at the bottom. That’s according to the new Kids Count Data Book for 2022. While much of the information was collected before the pandemic it does measure the impact of COVID on anxiety and depression among kids.