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

SPONSOR Rehm

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/26/07

03/07/07 HB 911/aHEC

SHORT TITLE Uniform Curricula In Each School District

SB

ANALYST Hanika Ortiz

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$10,535.4

Recurring

General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee Amendment provides that any grade level/subject area

curricula or related professional development being aligned for purposes contained in the bill

will be required to meet state standards and (1) be in place by the 2008-2009 school year for

mathematics, and (2) be in place by the 2009-2010 for language arts and science; and, further

strikes the appropriation to the Teacher Professional Development Fund to provide for these

efforts.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Section 22 13 1.5 NMSA 1978 provides that “school districts and charter schools may create a

core curriculum framework to include a curriculum that is aligned with state academic content

and performance standards that is challenging, specific as to content and sequential from grade to

grade…and in-depth professional development for teachers that includes vertical teaming in

content areas…"

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The amendment does not provide, direct or identify an appropriation to support school districts

with this effort; and, any adoption of the provisions within this bill will need to be implemented

within existing staff and resources.

House Bill 911/aHEC – Page

2

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 911 requires each school district to align its curricula so that students who transfer

between public schools within the district receive the same educational opportunities within the

same grade or subject area. The funds are for in-state professional development in FY08 and

FY09. Each of the two years, teachers will receive $200 dollars and each educational assistant

will receive $100 dollars for professional development activities. Only schools districts that have

adopted uniform grade and subject curricula will receive the funding in FY09.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

$10,535.4 is appropriated from the general fund to the Teacher Professional Development Fund

(Fund) for expenditure in FY08 and FY09 and is a recurring expense to the General Fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert back to the

General Fund. However, within Section 22-8-45, there exists a requirement that all monies

deposited into the Fund not revert to any other fund at the end of a fiscal year.

PED states the Department will require an additional staff member to monitor payments and for

school districts to manage the documentation of training as aligned to the Professional

Development Plan (PDP). Total cost $69.0 for an Educator Administrator – A ($25.50 x 2088

plus 30% benefits) to administer the program. The bill expressly forbids any portion of the

appropriation to be directed toward administrative costs by the Department.

The LFC remains concerned with funding initiatives outside of the funding formula as it tends to

disequalize school funding and diverts funding away from core educational needs.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

PED provided the following comments:

The standards, benchmarks and performance standards are the focus of curriculum. All districts

are required to implement these in the classrooms. If districts do curriculum mapping to ensure

that their teachers are aware of what is taught in the grades above and below, teachers will know

what is taught at the elementary, middle and high schools in each content area. Doing this

provides continuity. A larger question is if teachers use different textbooks, programs, etc., then

students transferring may become confused by the different terminology, structure or timing of

concepts. Since in many districts the textbooks drive the curriculum or are the basis for the

curriculum, significant funds will need to be expended to provide consistent materials in all

schools in the district.

Where this may become an issue is where the schools are diverse and certain programs are used

that have proven successful for specific subgroups. Students transferring may not benefit by the

intervention materials selected for specific students in schools not meeting AYP.

Additional issues center on providing staff development options and management of this service.

The district or state will have to identify, plan, develop and implement this training for the

teachers’ and aides’ participation. This will require someone at the district level to identify needs

and then development the training.

House Bill 911/aHEC – Page

3

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

PED notes the bill may serve to support the Public School Support Quality Performance Measure

“to increase the percent of classes taught by ‘highly qualified’ teachers in all schools across the

state." In addition, this legislation supports the New Mexico Accountability Plan for the federal

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires that 100% of core academic subject classrooms

are taught by highly qualified teachers by the end of the 2005-2006 school year.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

PED further notes that this bill will require an additional staff member to monitor payments; and,

for school districts to manage the documentation of training as aligned to the PDP.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The Fund provides monies for professional development programs and projects for public school

teachers. It remains unclear if classroom educational assistants will be able to receive

appropriations from the Fund for their professional development.

The PED is required to evaluate the success of each professional development program or project

receiving an appropriation from the Fund and report its findings to the legislative education study

committee each year. There is no provision within the bill for any performance measures or

reporting requirements on the success of the program as proposed.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Some districts have developed “pacing guides" for their schools that determine when specific

concepts need to be covered with students. This concept provides for student transfer between

schools without a need to worry about the textbooks or materials used.

Schools, school districts, or independent programs or agencies that apply for or are awarded state

or federal funding to support professional development programs or activities must demonstrate

alignment between the proposed programs and the New Mexico professional development

framework.

QUESTIONS

What methods are in place to hold teacher’s accountable for teaching an adopted and approved

curriculum.

AHO/mt:csd