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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Carraro DATE TYPED: 2/21/01 HB
SHORT TITLE: Merit Awards for Student Achievement SB 27
ANALYST: Segura


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY01 FY02 FY01 FY02
$ 850.0 Rec GF



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



Relates to SB23





SOURCES OF INFORMATION



State Department of Education SDE



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



Senate Bill 27 appropriates $850.0 to design and fund a merit award program for schools and teachers of elementary, middle, and junior high schools.



Significant Issues



Senate Bill 27 would create a new section in the Public School Code regarding Merit Awards. The legislation proposes the following:



Each year one elementary, middle and junior high school would be awarded $10,000.



An award of $2,000 would go to the top two percent of elementary, middle and junior high school teachers.



The $10,000 merit award would be based on the school that achieved the greatest improvement in student achievement.



A $2,000 merit award would be based on the teachers whose classes achieved the greatest improvement in student achievement.



Student achievement would be measured by using nationally standardized test scores.



FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



Senate Bill 27 appropriates $850.0 from the general fund and is recurring.



ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS



According to SDE, the department will be required to develop a mechanism for identifying schools and teachers for these awards and their distribution.



CONFLICT/DUPLICATION/COMPANIONSHIP/RELATIONSHIP



Relates to SB 23



OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES



According to SDE, the Incentives for School Improvement Act (Section 22-13A) provides for incentives awards to those schools making the most improvement from one year to the next that account for 10% of the student population. For the past two years, $1.9 million has been appropriated to the Incentives for School Improvement fund for these awards. During the fall of 2000, an average award of $18,248 was distributed to 94 schools throughout New Mexico.



RS/njw