HOUSE MEMORIAL 100

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

INTRODUCED BY

Sandra D. Jeff

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE AND THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO APPOINT A TASK FORCE TO UNDERTAKE A STUDY OF RECENT RESEARCH AND REVIEWS OF THE NEW MEXICO PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA AND OTHER RESEARCH AND REVIEWS RELEVANT TO IMPROVING THE EFFICACY AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE STATE'S PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA.

     WHEREAS, Article 12, Section 1 of the constitution of New Mexico requires the state to establish and maintain "a uniform system of free public schools sufficient for the education of, and open to, all the children of school age in the state"; and

     WHEREAS, in 1974, New Mexico was one of the first states in the union to establish and implement a funding distribution method to provide equitable funding for all of the state's children, no matter where they live in the state; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's funding formula continues to be one of the few that funds its public schools based upon the tax wealth of the entire state rather than the property tax wealth of individual districts; and

     WHEREAS, having been in place for the past forty years, the public school funding formula has been amended more than ninety times; and

     WHEREAS, the 2005 legislature established a funding formula study task force to select a contractor and to oversee the contractor's work on an independent, comprehensive study of the New Mexico public school funding formula; and

     WHEREAS, in 2008, after nearly two years of study and work with the contractor, American institutes for research, and nearly a million dollars expended, the task force recommended that the legislature enact a new, simplified operational funding formula and that educational funding appropriations be increased by approximately fifteen percent; and

     WHEREAS, a bill with the proposed changes passed the house of representatives and stalled in the senate finance committee during both the 2008 and 2009 legislative sessions; and

     WHEREAS, a 2009 feasibility study spearheaded by the New Mexico coalition of school administrators undertook a nationwide review of state constitutional funding cases and concluded that New Mexico presents a "favorable landscape" for a successful lawsuit related to operational funding; and

     WHEREAS, a 2011 joint study by the legislative finance committee and the legislative education study committee concluded that "the state's public school formula is too complicated and too difficult to administer. Some elements of the funding formula create incentives to run contrary to, or do not effectively support, recent educational policy and research". In particular, the joint study noted that acute funding formula problems include "ineffective allocation of resources to high-need areas"; and

     WHEREAS, recently, at least two of the state's eighty-nine school districts have passed resolutions urging consideration of a lawsuit against the state of New Mexico based upon the complicated nature of the current state operational funding formula, as well as the state's underfunding of public education in general; and

     WHEREAS, undertaking a lawsuit against the state would be expensive and time-consuming and could put control of the state's public schools in the hands of the judiciary;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council, in collaboration with the public education department, the legislative education study committee and the legislative finance committee, be requested to appoint a task force to undertake a review of the 2008 American institutes for research study of the New Mexico public school funding formula and other relevant studies and reviews; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that:

          A. the task force be composed of the following members:

                (1) three members from the house of representatives and three members from the senate appointed by the New Mexico legislative council;

                (2) three members appointed by the governor;

                (3) three school superintendents appointed by the New Mexico coalition of educational leaders;

                (4) the president of the New Mexico school boards association or the president's designee; and

                (5) one member of a statewide teacher organization appointed by the New Mexico legislative council;

          B. vacancies on the task force be filled by appointment by the original appointing authority; and

          C. staff for the task force be provided by the legislative council service, the public education department, the legislative education study committee and the legislative finance committee; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force make recommendations to the first session of the fifty-second legislature to simplify the state's operational funding formula and to direct increased funding to areas that have been proven effective in improving student achievement; and

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

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