HOUSE MEMORIAL 78

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

INTRODUCED BY

Sheryl Williams Stapleton

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF CAREER-TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS; RECOGNIZING THE WORK OF ERIC SPENCER AND THE IMPORTANCE OF POSITIVE, ACTIVE LEADERSHIP IN FURTHERING THE GOALS OF PROVIDING COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS CHOICES FOR STUDENTS.

     WHEREAS, career-technical education is helping the nation meet the very real and immediate challenges of economic development, student achievement and global competitiveness; and

     WHEREAS, some fourteen million students are enrolled in career-technical education in every state, with programs in nearly one thousand two hundred public high schools and one thousand seven hundred two-year colleges; and

     WHEREAS, the average high school graduation rate for students concentrating in career-technical education programs is more than ninety percent compared to an average national freshman graduation rate of just under seventy-five percent; and

     WHEREAS, seventy percent of students concentrating in career-technical education areas stayed in post-secondary education or transferred to a four-year degree program, compared to an average state target of fifty-eight percent; and

     WHEREAS, experts project forty-seven million job openings in the decade ending in 2018, one-third of which will require an associate's degree or certificate and nearly all of which will require real-world skills that can be mastered through career-technical education; and

     WHEREAS, Eric Spencer, who became director of the public education department's college and career readiness bureau in October 2012, embodies the career-technical education vision of "reflect, transform, lead"; and

     WHEREAS, prior to assuming his directorship, Mr. Spencer served the public education department for over twelve years in multiple roles, first as a staff manager for career-technical work force education and, after that, as budget director for the administrative services division; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Spencer began his career in education as a business teacher, teaching both in one of the smallest and in one of the largest high schools in the state; and

     WHEREAS, besides teaching at the elementary, middle and high school levels, Mr. Spencer has served as an assistant to a principal at an elementary school and as an assistant to a district superintendent; and

     WHEREAS, for the past six years, Mr. Spencer has served as an adjunct faculty member in the school of business and professional studies at Luna community college, where he teaches accounting, finance and economics; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Spencer earned his bachelor's degree and his master's degree in business administration, as well as having completed all coursework required for his teaching and administrative licenses at New Mexico highlands university; and

     WHEREAS, after completing requirements for those credentials, Mr. Spencer studied insurance and risk management at California state university in San Francisco, and he continues to be a lifelong learner, studying architectural design and art at Santa Fe community college; and

     WHEREAS, most recently, the New Mexico state directors of Carl D. Perkins programs honored Mr. Spencer by endorsing him for an honorary doctorate degree; and

     WHEREAS, as a recipient of numerous educational awards, Mr. Spencer has been recognized at the state and national levels in the career-technical education arena for his many contributions to the education of children and youths;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Eric Spencer be congratulated on his significant career achievements and his leadership in the important area of the college-technical education in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the public education department and the New Mexico state directors of Carl D. Perkins programs.

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