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

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/02/2007

2/25/2007 HB

SHORT TITLE High School Redesign

SB 561/aSEC/aSFC

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

See Fiscal Implications $0.1

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB-584

Relates to HB-68, SB-211

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Department of Higher Education (HED)

Responses Not Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SFC Amendment

The Senate Finance Committee Amendment to Senate Bill 561 as amended removes

communication skills as a requirement for earning a New Mexico Diploma of Excellence, and

adds the choice of one unit of a career cluster course or workplace readiness.

The amendment also increases the number of electives that can be applied toward graduation.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

This amendment aligns SB-561 with all amendment made to HB-584. These bills were

originally introduced as duplicates.

Senate Bill 561/aSEC/aSFC – Page

2

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

The Senate Education Committee amendment to Senate Bill 561 makes changes to the title of the

bill, removes the requirement giving districts the option of charging student for subsequent

administration of the test.

The amendment allows for a parent to exempt their child from the mandatory attendance

requirements of statute by submitting written permission.

The amendment also adds science and social studies to minimum instructional areas in grades 1

through 3.

The amendment removes communication skills from the list of classes required for graduation

and increases the number of elective classes allowed. The amendment also allows parents to

exempt their child from the Algebra II requirement of the Diploma of Excellence and removes

the foreign language requirement.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

It appears that allowing parents to exempt students from the higher rigor classes may result in

students receiving a “Diploma of Excellence" who are not meeting the admission requirement of

many universities. The amendment provides that school districts offer foreign language classes

but does require they be taken.

The amendment also provides that schools offer dual credit courses as an honors course.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 561 integrates various components of high school redesign. The bill provides for

college and workplace readiness programs; clarifies language regarding assessments, creates a

college and workplace readiness assessment system; limits the use of funds in the Public School

Reading Proficiency Fund to middle, junior and high schools, raises the compulsory school

attendance age.

The bill further changes high school graduation requirements and establishes the New Mexico

diploma of excellence and provides the criteria required to earn the diploma.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill provides for continuing appropriations. The LFC has concerns with including

continuing appropriation language in the statutory provisions for funds, as earmarking reduces

the ability of the legislature to establish spending priorities.

A significant requirement of this bill is for PED to create a readiness assessment system to

measure the readiness of every New Mexico high school student for success in higher education

or a career by the 2008-2009 school year. The assessment program consists of three components

as follows:

•

A ninth grade high school readiness assessment;

•

A tenth grade college readiness assessment; and,

Senate Bill 561/aSEC/aSFC – Page

3

•

An eleventh grade workplace readiness assessment.

The cost for the initial application of the test at each grade level will be at no cost to the student.

It is estimated that current assessment instruments with some modifications may be suitable to

meet the need of the ninth and tenth grade assessments. It appears that a new eleventh grade

assessment may be needed resulting in a substantial cost to the department. The bill provides

that PED may adopt an already-developed commercial assessment that can be customized and is

aligned to New Mexico content standards. While the extent of the alignment of the new

assessment to New Mexico’s academic content standards and benchmarks is unclear, the cost of

each administration is expected to be relatively inexpensive. The General Appropriations Act

contains $1.5 million for an eleventh grade exit assessment, some of which could possibly be

used for these efforts.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

SB 561 provides for increased emphasis on legislative findings to include the importance of

providing rigorous and relevant high school curricula to New Mexico’s students and ensuring that

students have accurate, useful information about the quality of their high school preparation and

post-secondary options

The bill eliminates the current high school graduation examination by July 2010, and requires

that before the 2008 legislative session, the Public Education Department (PED) establish by rule

a new graduation assessment or portfolio system for use beginning in school year 2010-2011.

In addition, SB 561 directs PED to create a readiness assessment system for all New Mexico

public high school students no later than the 2008-2009 school year. This new material would

create a substantial new assessment to be administered by the PED. It requires that during the

fall of each school year, the assessment system, while aligned with New Mexico academic

content standards will:

•

Assess high school readiness in English, reading, mathematics and science in the fall of grade

nine.

•

Assess college readiness in English, reading and mathematics and “locating" information in

the fall of grade 10.

•

Assess workplace readiness in applied skills in reading, mathematics and “locating"

information in the fall of grade 11.

All students will participate in the assessment at no cost for the first administration in each grade

level, however SB 561 provides that districts may charge students the cost of the administration

should the students choose to re-take any of the assessments. The bill also mandates that results

from these assessments shall be made available to students, parents and public schools no later

than four weeks following the date on which the assessments are administered.

At present students in a limited number of schools are being assessed using the Work Keys

assessment with federal Carl Perkins funding being used cover the cost of the assessment.

SB 561 provides that a school-age person must attend public, private or home school until they

are 18 years of age, unless they have graduated or received a general educational development

certificate (GED.) Additionally, SB 561 provides that a school or charter school may not exempt

a student from attending school for any reasons except those provided by law or parent-

Senate Bill 561/aSEC/aSFC – Page

4

authorized medical reasons. It appears that the intent of these provisions is to make it more

difficult for students to drop out of school prior to graduation. Research shows that students who

complete high school earn more money and are more likely to complete post-secondary

education than those that do not.

SB 561 increases rigor for students by requiring algebra I be offered in the eighth grade, provides

that students entering ninth grade in the 2009-2010 school year, in order to graduate, must earn at

least one unit as advanced placement, dual credit, or one distance learning course. Further, the

bill creates the New Mexico diploma of excellence, sets out the course requirements and

provides for certificates of completion for those students who do not meet graduation

requirements.

SB 561 further provides that funds contained in the Public School Reading Proficiency Fund can

only be distributed only to middle, junior and senior high schools to implement scientifically

based reading programs including the Middle and High School Literacy Initiative provided for in

the bill. This provision would eliminate elementary schools from having access to the fund.

While it is important to focus on literacy skills at all stages of a child’s education, research has

shown that early literacy interventions have the most effect. By eliminating elementary schools’

access to this fund, early intervention programs may be adversely impacted.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The Office of Educational Accountability notes that existing statute indicates that students will

be tested in social studies by the 2005-06 school year, should the legislature provide funding. SB

561 strikes existing language which indicates that students will be tested in social studies upon

provision of funding from the legislature. Removal of this language would mean the

requirement of the implementation of social studies assessment in grades 3-8 & 11. The social

studies component of the assessment is currently under development at the PED, however, the

PED Assessment and Accountability staff indicate that only the grade 11 assessment will be

available by the 2007-08 school year. Clarification needs to be made about whether the sponsor

intends for the social studies component of the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment to

come on-line for all effected grades in 2007-08, or whether some graduated roll-out is allowable

HED also notes that under provisions contained in SB 561, a student under 18 years of age

cannot drop out of school unless he/she has graduated from high school or received a General

Educational Development (GED) certificate. However, federal law mandates that a student

cannot receive a GED unless he/she has officially withdrawn from high school. A student

therefore cannot obtain a GED while enrolled in high school. The impact of SB 561 is that a

student under 18 years of age who drops out of high school will be unable to officially withdraw

or earn a GED.

A question for consideration is whether the reading proficiency fund duplicates the purposes of

the reading materials fund.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Higher Education Department notes that provisions relating to graduation requirements

contain a clause giving students and their parents the opportunity to opt out of the mathematics

requirement required to earn a New Mexico Diploma of Excellence. According to national

research, success in Algebra II is a good predictor for success in college and the skills needed for

Senate Bill 561/aSEC/aSFC – Page

5

success in college/careers are the same. It is notable that students and parents are presented the

opportunity to opt out of only the math requirement, not any of the other core content area

requirements.

PA/mt:yr