HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 21

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Sandra D. Jeff

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO CREATE AN INDIAN EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE DURING THE 2014 INTERIM COMPOSED OF MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE AND THE APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE THAT STUDIES INDIAN AFFAIRS.

     WHEREAS, the current public education funding formula was created in 1974 and at the time was considered one of the most innovative, equitable school finance plans in the country; and

     WHEREAS, the formula is based on the premise that all students should have equal access to programs and services to meet their educational needs, regardless of geographic location or local economic conditions, and the purpose of the formula is to provide equalized funding for all school districts; and

     WHEREAS, the state equalization guarantee distribution, which is the distribution of state money for education, is computed by determining each school district's or charter school's total program units, based on certain factors, including membership and specific needs of students such as bilingual or special education; and

     WHEREAS, the program units are then multiplied by a value assigned to reflect the training and experience of teachers and other professional staff, which product is then multiplied by the unit value to derive the program cost; and

     WHEREAS, essentially, the state equalization guarantee distribution is a school district's program cost minus revenue credits; and

     WHEREAS, the federal government gives money to school districts in which lie federal land or federal reservations, including military bases and tribal lands, commonly known as "impact aid" or "P.L. 874" funds, and the state takes credit for seventy-five percent of these receipts in the same way that it takes credit for money raised by school districts in the imposition of the one-half mill levy property tax; and

     WHEREAS, in the past, when local property tax accounted for a larger share of the public education revenue stream, the credit taken from impact aid was a more equitable proposition; and

     WHEREAS, now, however, the poorest and most economically disadvantaged school districts are contributing the largest percentage of local revenue to the statewide school budget; and

     WHEREAS, this inequity is demonstrated in the following table, which shows the statistics of three of the wealthier school districts, Albuquerque public school district, Rio Rancho public school district and Santa Fe public school district, and three impact aid school districts, central consolidated school district, Gallup-McKinley county school district and Zuni public school district, using the number of students, the percentage of total state membership that those students represent, the percentage of budget contributed by each school district and the credit per student:

District    Students    % of Total  % of          Credit per

                                    Contribution  Student

APS         92,456.75    28.77%       4.542%         $40.39

Rio Rancho  16,346.75     5.09%       0.578%         $29.07

Santa Fe    13,862.50     4.31%       1.154%         $68.44

Central      6,225.50     1.94%      17.871%      $2,359.85

Gallup      11,824.75     3.68%      28.901%      $2,009.22

Zuni         1,388.50     0.43%       5.574%      $3,299.84; and

     WHEREAS, Native American students suffer disproportionately from the inequity, which is apparent in the way impact aid is currently administered in the state; and

     WHEREAS, the legislature funded a multi-year task force to study the current funding formula, and, after its study, the task force proposed a new, simpler funding formula that promised both horizontal and vertical equity; however, the new formula's implementation would have required additional funding, and, unfortunately, the proposal came before the legislature at about the same time as the economic crisis; and

     WHEREAS, there have been attempts during this and several immediately preceding legislative sessions to make significant changes to the funding formula, without the issues and potential consequences of the changes having been studied; and

     WHEREAS, higher education institutions in the state have a long and proud history of providing quality and culturally relevant education to Native American students; and

     WHEREAS, there is current advocacy for Native American higher education initiatives at the university of New Mexico and for higher education department initiatives for a state-tribal higher education blueprint, inclusive of tribal colleges, but a statewide comprehensive education plan for Native American students has yet to be developed;   

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to create an Indian education subcommittee during the 2014 interim composed of members of the legislative education study committee and the appropriate legislative interim committee that studies Indian affairs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Indian education subcommittee be asked to consider alternatives to the way impact aid is implemented in order to provide education in the state in a more equitable way and be asked to develop a statewide comprehensive education plan for Native American students; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chair of the legislative education study committee, the director of the legislative council service, the secretary of public education and the secretary of higher education.

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