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

SPONSOR Sanchez, M.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-8-2007

HB

SHORT TITLE Rural Area Child Literacy Programs

SB 82

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

*$1,500.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriations Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 82 appropriates $1.5 million from the general fund to Public Education Department

for the purpose of providing integrated in-school, after-school and summer supplementary

literacy programs for children in grades K through 8 in several New Mexico counties. The

legislation requires that these programs shall have been previously implemented in rural areas,

shall serve children in kindergarten through eighth grade and shall include pre-testing and post-

testing assessments.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1.5 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General

Fund. The funds are appropriated for use in FY08 and FY09 and any unexpended or

unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to the General Fund.

Senate Bill 82 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The program was recently initiated at 11 school sites, in four rural districts at the beginning of

2007. The program is intended to improve students’ reading comprehension to a level at or

above their grade levels. The literacy program components are: after-school and summer

programming, in-school literacy support, tutorials, emergent reader modules, school and

community impact, CHANGE (Creating Health Active Nurturing Good nutrition Environments),

and addressing math.

Language in the legislation requires program expansion to a minimum of 15 schools.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The literacy program coordinators will demonstrate student skill growth through use of the

STAR Reading Assessment, the Accelerated Reading Diagnostics and the New Mexico

Standards Based Assessment.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

This bill would require the Public Education department:

• To develop guidelines for policies and provide technical assistance to the 15 rural

schools

• To issue a request for proposals among New Mexico public (rural) school districts

• To ensure that selected rural schools support the implementation of New

Mexico’s K-8 Language Arts Content Standards.

DUPLICATES

Senate Bill 82 duplicates House Bill 65.

RELATIONSHIP

The general fund recommendation for FY08 includes $3 million for these initiatives.

Additionally, a $1 million portion of the recommended amount for the Indian Education program

was recommended specifically for a rural literacy initiative program for schools with substantial

percentage of Native American students.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Additional materials for rural literacy initiatives would not be funded through the General Fund.

PD/mt