Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

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

SPONSOR Cote

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/12/07

HB 619/aHEC

SHORT TITLE Dona Ana Parent and Child Education Programs

SB

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$500.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to

HM 3 and SB 136; Duplicates SB 554

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amended Bill

House Education Committee amendment to House Bill 619 changed the agency receiving the

appropriation from CYFD to the local government division of the Department of Finance and

Administration. The amendment clarifies that the appropriation to contract for one program

rather than several programs in Dona Ana County for parent and child education. The

amendment specifies that the contractor shall provide:

•

parenting education that teaches parents to be the primary teacher and full partners in

their child's education;

•

early childhood education to prepare children for success in school and life;

•

adult literacy education that leads to economic self-sufficiency;

•

community resource awareness so that parents are able to help themselves;

•

home visits to provide one-to-one guidance on more effective parenting and home

teaching skills;

•

transportation and other support services that help the families participate on a consistent

House Bill 619/aHEC – Page

2

basis;

•

regular attendance of participating families".

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 619 appropriates five hundred thousand ($500,000) from the general fund to

Children, Youth and Families Department for expenditure in fiscal year 2008 for parent and

child education programs in Dona Ana county.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of five hundred thousand ($500,000) contained in this bill is a recurring

expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of

fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the general fund.

The appropriation in this bill was not part of Children Youth and Families Department's request

and is not included in the Executive recommendation for Children Youth and Families

Department.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The bill does not address any specific programs or approaches to parent and child education

programs.

There are some consistent components of successful programs that have been identified in

compiling information on parent and child education. Here are some that should be considered

prior to funding:

•

Parenting education that teaches parents to be the primary teacher and full partners in

their child’s education

•

Early childhood education to prepare children for success in school and life

•

Adult literacy education that leads to economic self-sufficiency

•

Community resource awareness so that parents are able to help themselves

•

Home visits to provide one-to-one guidance on more effective parenting and home

teaching skills

•

Transportation and other support services that help the families participate on a consistent

basis

•

Regular attendance of participating families.

Research has shown that student performance is enhanced when parents are actively involved

with the school in their child’s education. New research produced by the Southwest Educational

Development Laboratory’s National Center for Family and Community Connections with

Schools examines the impact of different family and community connections on student

achievement. (

http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/readiness-synthesis.pdf

)

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

There is no specific PED performance measure; however, this bill could support the PED goal of

ensuring that all children are ready for kindergarten as well as supporting the Pre-K Initiative of

the Governor.

House Bill 619/aHEC – Page

3

Depending upon the age-group targeted, and the type of parent-child education provided, the bill

could positively impact a range of tasks and measures in the Governor’s policy initiative

“Making Schools Work" and more specifically: Ensure that all young children are ready for

school; Increase parents’ involvement in their children’s education; and Close the student

achievement gap by supporting the children and schools who need the most assistance.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

If passed, the bill will have a slight administrative impact on children, youth and families

department that the bill does not address.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to

HM 3 and SB 136; Duplicates SB 554

TECHNICAL ISSUES

This bill only provides funds for programs in Dona Ana County. A statewide program focused

on rural areas would help break the State’s generational education gap.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of government profiled Kentucky’s statewide

program for Parents and Children:

(

http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/awards.html.id=3492

)

In 1985, 60 percent of the students in 52 Kentucky school districts were not graduating

from high school. Of people aged 25 or older in Kentucky, there was a 36 percent chance

that they had not graduated from high school and over half of those had less than a 9

th

grade education. Kentucky, at the time, led the nation with these appalling statistics. These

numbers indicated to the Kentucky legislature that there was a significant and inter-

generational problem in Kentucky's education system. Concluding the problem of illiteracy

and academic failure tends to be repeated generation after generation, the state government

created the Parent and Child Education Program (PACE) to intervene with both parents and

children in order to break this cycle of under-education.

Recognizing the current adult population's educational challenges and the potential

influence that early-childhood education programs can have on later success in school and

in life, PACE seeks to improve the education of both parents and pre-school age children

simultaneously. Run by 12 local school districts in cooperation with the Kentucky board of

education, the program focuses on families in rural communities.

The program's concept is simple: everyone goes to school. For example, on a typical day in

the program, parents and children arrive at school together. They have breakfast after

which the parents go to their adult education classes while the children go to their pre-

House Bill 619/aHEC – Page

4

school classrooms. After two and a half to three hours, the parents join the children in class

for joint activities designed to help the parents understand how their children learn and

what their role is in the learning process. The parents and children then go to lunch

together, after which the children take a nap while the parents attend programs designed to

help them to be effective parents, students, and citizens, and to help them make plans for

their academic and vocational future.

The program has had a significant impact. In its second year of existence, nearly 50 percent

of the 1,000 PACE participant parents had passed a General Educational Development test,

having a direct positive effect on Kentucky's current adult population. More importantly,

however, 82 percent of PACE participants reported attitude changes towards education in

general. It is through this change in attitude that Kentucky hopes to inspire ambition and

educational progress among its children. This ambition will ultimately break the

generational cycle of failure and improve the performance of Kentucky's youngest students.

ALTERNATIVES

Expand the program funding in this bill and pilot a statewide program.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo.

DL/nt