AN ACT
RELATING TO EDUCATION; CHANGING HOW INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL ALLOCATIONS ARE CALCULATED, DISTRIBUTED AND EXPENDED; PROVIDING FOR FEES; CREATING A FUND; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 22-15-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 205, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-15-1. SHORT TITLE.--Sections 22-15-1 through 22-15-14 NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Instructional Material Law"."
Section 2. Section 22-15-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 206, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-15-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Instructional Material Law:
A. "division" or "bureau" means the instructional material bureau of the department;
B. "director" or "chief" means the chief of the bureau;
C. "instructional material" means school textbooks and other educational media that are used as the basis for instruction, including combinations of textbooks, learning kits, supplementary material and electronic media;
D. "multiple list" means a written list of those instructional materials approved by the department;
E. "membership" means the total enrollment of qualified students on the fortieth day of the school year entitled to the free use of instructional material pursuant to the Instructional Material Law; and
F. "additional pupil" means a pupil in a school district's, state institution's or private school's current year's certified forty-day membership above the number certified in the school district's, state institution's or private school's prior year's forty-day membership."
Section 3. Section 22-15-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 208, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-15-4. BUREAU--DUTIES.--Subject to the policies and regulations of the department, the bureau shall:
A. administer the provisions of the Instructional Material Law;
B. enforce rules for the handling, safekeeping and distribution of instructional material and instructional material funds and for inventory and accounting procedures to be followed by school districts, state institutions, private schools and adult basic education centers pursuant to the Instructional Material Law;
C. withdraw or withhold the privilege of participating in the free use of instructional material in case of any violation of or noncompliance with the provisions of the Instructional Material Law or any rules adopted pursuant to that law;
D. enforce rules relating to the use and operation of instructional material depositories in the instructional material distribution process; and
E. enforce rules that require local school boards to implement a process that ensures that parents and other community members are involved in the instructional material review process."
Section 4. Section 22-15-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 212, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-15-8. MULTIPLE LIST--SELECTION--REVIEW PROCESS.--
A. The department shall adopt a multiple list to be made available to students pursuant to the Instructional Material Law. At least ten percent of instructional material on the multiple list concerning language arts and social studies shall contain material that is relevant to the cultures, languages, history and experiences of multi-ethnic students. The department shall ensure that parents and other community members are involved in the adoption process at the state level.
B. Pursuant to the provisions of the Instructional Material Law, each school district, state institution, private school as agent or adult basic education center may select instructional material for the use of its students from the multiple list adopted by the department. Local school boards shall give written notice to parents and other community members and shall invite parental involvement in the adoption process at the district level. Local school
boards shall also give public notice, which notice may
include publication in a newspaper of general circulation in
the school district.
C. The department shall establish by rule an instructional material review process for the adoption of instructional material on the multiple list. The process shall include:
(1) a summer review institute at which basal materials in the content area under adoption will be facilitated by content and performance experts in the content area and reviewed by reviewers;
(2) that level two and level three-A teachers are reviewers of record; provided that level one teachers, college students completing teacher preparation programs, parents and community leaders will be recruited and partnered with the reviewers of record;
(3) that reviewed materials shall be scored and ranked primarily against how well they align with state academic content and performance standards, but research-based effectiveness may also be considered; and
(4) the adoption of supplementary materials that are not reviewed.
D. Participants in the summer review institute shall receive a stipend commensurate with the level of responsibility and participation as determined by department rule.
E. The department shall charge a processing fee to vendors of instructional materials not to exceed the retail value of the instructional material submitted for adoption."
Section 5. A new section of the Instructional Material Law, Section 22-15-8.1 NMSA 1978, is enacted to read:
"22-15-8.1. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL ADOPTION FUND.--The "instructional material adoption fund" is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of fees charged to publishers to review their instructional materials, income from investment of the fund, gifts, grants and donations. Money in the fund shall not revert to any other fund at the end of a fiscal year. The fund shall be administered by the department and money in the fund is appropriated to the department to pay expenses associated with adoption of instructional material for the multiple list."
Section 6. Section 22-15-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 213, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-15-9. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL.--
A. On or before April 1 of each year, the department shall allocate to each school district, state institution or private school not less than ninety percent of its estimated entitlement as determined from the estimated forty-day membership for the next school year. A school district's, state institution's or private school's entitlement is that portion of the total amount of the annual appropriation less a deduction for a reasonable reserve for emergency expenses that its forty-day membership bears to the forty-day membership of the entire state. For the purpose of this allocation, additional pupils shall be counted as six pupils. The allocation for adult basic education shall be based on a full-time equivalency obtained by multiplying the total previous year's enrollment by .25.
B. On or before January 15 of each year, the department shall recompute each entitlement using the forty-day membership for that year, except for adult basic education, and shall allocate the balance of the annual appropriation adjusting for any over- or under-estimation made in the first allocation.
C. An amount not to exceed fifty percent of the allocations attributed to each school district, state institution or adult basic education center may be used for instructional material not included on the multiple list provided for in Section 22-15-8 NMSA 1978. The local superintendent may apply to the department for a waiver of the use of funds allocated for the purchase of instructional material either included or not included on the multiple list. If the waiver is granted, the school district shall not be required to submit a budget adjustment request to the department. Adult basic education centers may expend up to one hundred percent of their instructional material funds for items that are not on the multiple list.
D. The department shall establish procedures for the distribution of funds directly to school districts, state institutions and adult basic education centers. The department shall provide payment to a publisher or depository on behalf of a private school for instructional material included on the multiple list provided for in Section 22-15-8 NMSA 1978.
E. A school district, state institution or adult basic education center that has funds remaining for the purchase of instructional material at the end of the fiscal year shall retain those funds for expenditure in subsequent years. Any balance remaining in an instructional material account of a private school at the end of the fiscal year shall remain available for reimbursement by the department for instructional material purchases in subsequent years."
Section 7. Section 22-15-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 216, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-15-12. ANNUAL REPORT.--Annually, at a time specified by the department, each local school board of a school district and each governing authority of a state institution, private school or adult basic education center acquiring instructional material pursuant to the Instructional Material Law shall file a report with the department that includes an itemized list of instructional material purchased by the eligible entity, by vendor; the total cost of the instructional material; the average per-student cost; and the year-end cash balance."
Section 8. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public
peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.