SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 21

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Cynthia Nava

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STUDY OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING FORMULA TO DETERMINE FUNDING PARITY AMONG THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES WITHIN EACH INSTITUTION.

     WHEREAS, in 1999, the legislature requested the commission on higher education and the public higher education institutions to cooperate in adopting and implementing goals for a coordinated post-secondary education system, among them:

          A. quality education and training to cultivate a competitive high-quality work force; and

          B. teacher preparation and professional development in partnership with the public school system to achieve the highest quality teaching; and

     WHEREAS, since 1999, the need to clarify, strengthen and align the various components of New Mexico's teacher preparation programs has been highlighted by recent federal and state legislation, including:

          A. the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires all teachers to be "highly qualified" in core academic subjects by the end of the 2005-2006 school year and new teachers hired beginning in the 2002-2003 school year to be highly qualified as a condition of employment; and

          B. public school reforms in House Bill 212 of the 2003 regular session, which established a three-tiered professional teacher licensure framework that instituted minimum salary levels linked to increased professional accountability measured through a "highly objective uniform statewide standard of evaluation"; and

     WHEREAS, in the past three years, the public education department reports that the total number of teacher preparation programs offered in New Mexico has risen from five to thirteen, with the entry of alternative programs and community college programs into the approval process; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico dean's council has developed a compact to build a statewide, seamless transition for the preparation of teacher candidates moving from community colleges through university programs to state licensure, and the council of university presidents, the New Mexico association of community colleges and the commission on higher education have supported this effort; and

     WHEREAS, testimony provided to the legislative education study committee in the 2003 interim by representatives of schools and colleges of education indicated that teacher preparation programs in public institutions of higher education receive fewer resources, in terms of faculty and program funding, than other academic programs and departments in post-secondary education, which, in turn, may be compromising New Mexico's ability to meet federal and state goals and standards for the development of a highly qualified educator work force;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the commission on higher education be requested to collaborate with the public institutions of higher education to study the higher education funding formula to determine funding parity among the various schools and colleges within each institution, especially as it relates to student-generated funding between the colleges and schools of education and other colleges or schools within the institution; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission on higher education submit findings and recommendations to the legislative education study committee no later than November 1, 2004; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the commission on higher education, the public institutions of higher education and the legislative education study committee for appropriate distribution.

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