New Mexico's schools faced dire circumstances over the last year as decades of disproportionate disinvestment came to a head under the immense stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of our state's elected officials stepped forward in support of the drastic changes needed to not only heal from the pandemic, but to address the constitutional right students have to a sufficient education. While we can celebrate achievements seen at the Roundhouse for the 2021 regular legislative session, we acknowledge our work remains ... Continued
New Mexico's 60-day legislative session began last week, amid unprecedented and critical circumstances for the state's children and families. TENM has identified the priorities we hope our legislators will join us in championing to transform our education system.
With the Special Legislative Session days away, TENM has identified four priorities that we hope legislators will take to heart as they make decisions that affect New Mexico Families.
Join us for a Telephone Town Hall on
Wednesday, April 29, at 2PM MT
While the COVID Pandemic has reshaped what education looks like across the world, education in New Mexico has been in crisis for decades. Teachers, students, and school districts have largely stepped up to make the best of the current situation, but a history of inequity in education that has continued into the present has been further exposed by the national health crisis.
We invite you to ... Continued
On April 9, Transform Education NM sent a letter to our Governor and leadership for the Public Education, Higher Education, and Early Childhood Education & Care departments, urging the formation of a COVID-19 Education Task Force. This working group would address necessary steps to transition students successfully back into school when the crisis is over, and minimize long-term harm with the crisis and persistent inequities in opportunities for students.
Here is the full letter: Continued
COVID-19 has laid bare critical shortcomings in New Mexico’s educational infrastructure. School closures, necessary to protect our health, impact every student in New Mexico, but because of systemic inequities in our system, for many families it is more difficult to endure. Too many of our students can’t participate in online classes because they lack reliable internet access, as do many rural and Tribal libraries. Too many students can’t easily pick up school lunches that many families depend ... Continued
When #TransformEducationNM launched in 2018, there was tremendous collective enthusiasm to transform the public education system in New Mexico. We continue to grow into a powerful community – and we are more determined than ever to see this through to the end. Our students and families deserve it.
Our voices have been strong at the state legislature. We advocated for changes to bring more teachers into our schools, provide professional development, expand bilingual education, and increase health and social services, among other ... Continued
Teachers and other educators play a critical role in our students' and our state's future, and they deserve to be fairly compensated for their dedication and hard work.
The Senate Finance Committee is
about to cut the proposed 5% pay increase,
in the midst of a statewide teacher shortage.
The teacher shortage is a crisis that has been severely damaging to our schools. Currently, House Bill 2 budgets for a 5% increase. We must keep it at this level, or higher.
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PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL OUR SENATORS TODAY
We are getting close to the end of the legislative session and it’s critical we make our voices heard.
Our schools should have adequate health and social services for all students. The first step is to bring together families, educators and experts to assess the strengths and the gaps of the system across the state. Funding is needed for this work but it was left out of the first version ... Continued
Important AND urgent. A key budget committee is about to vote on funding for this year, but the bill is missing the critical public education priorities that we’ve worked on together. New Mexicans strongly believe education is a top priority. The state’s record budget surpluses should be invested in our students.
We know what it will take to #TransformEducation in New Mexico, but key legislation will not be heard unless we make our voices known.
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