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A JOINT MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE TO STUDY
TEACHER ATTENDANCE AND THE USE OF SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS IN
SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
WHEREAS, the legislative and the executive branches have
made a commitment to public school reform by, for example,
eliminating most social promotion; requiring more formalized
assistance for students who are failing; increasing
grade-level and graduation requirements; and instituting the
three-tier licensure system for teachers and school
administrators to raise teacher qualifications and salaries;
and
WHEREAS, teachers and schools are now held accountable
for student achievement; and
WHEREAS, the state expects teachers to improve their
teaching skills through professional development; however,
because most teacher contracts have not been extended beyond
the instructional year, professional development often causes
teacher absences from the classroom; and
WHEREAS, studies show that students who have teachers
with fewer absences have significantly larger improvements in
test scores and other achievement indicators; and
WHEREAS, the use of substitute teachers is disruptive to
students and, over time, can affect the academic structure of
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a class, compromise the teacher's role as an educational
leader in the classroom and impede students' educational
development; and
WHEREAS, substitute teachers may have no knowledge of
the subject matter being taught in the classroom in which
they are substituting or may be unable to correctly follow or
interpret the lesson plans left by the absent teacher; and
WHEREAS, the pressures of the state's accountability
system and the requirements for adequate yearly progress make
untenable the use of substitutes who end up serving merely as
an adult presence in the classroom; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico's requirements for substitute
teacher certification are less than rigorous, but, even so,
school districts often find it difficult to attract and
retain an adequate pool of substitute teachers; and
WHEREAS, it is difficult to attract and retain
knowledgeable substitute teachers when pay is low and
benefits are nonexistent; and
WHEREAS, the use of substitute teachers has budgetary
implications, and an unanticipated need for substitute
teachers can adversely affect a school district's budget;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study
committee be requested to study the issue of substitute
teachers, including qualifications, availability, salary and
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benefits, frequency of use across the state, length of duty
and parental notification; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee study options
for keeping teachers in the classroom during student
attendance hours and improving teacher attendance in order to
improve student achievement; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be
transmitted to the legislative education study committee.