HOUSE BILL 111

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Tomás E. Salazar and Linda M. Trujillo and Derrick J. Lente

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION IMPROVEMENTS; PROVIDING FOR CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY RESPONSIVE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS, EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT STAFF WHO TEACH OR OTHERWISE INTERACT WITH CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATIONS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. A new section of the Regional Cooperative Education Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATIONS--PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL.--

          A. All cooperatives that want to provide technical assistance and professional development for teachers, educational assistants and other instructional support staff in the educational needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students shall join together and submit one application to the department for funding. The group of participating cooperatives shall assign one cooperative to provide coordination, financial accounting and disbursement of funding received from the department to all participating cooperatives.

          B. With council approval, each cooperative may provide or contract for technical assistance and professional development for teachers, educational assistants and other instructional support staff that are focused on the educational needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students.

          C. Technical assistance and professional development programs shall be aligned with state academic content standards, benchmarks and performance standards for bilingual multicultural education and shall meet school district and charter school educational plans related to bilingual multicultural education, Indian education and Hispanic education.

          D. Professional development programs shall be centered on the following:

                (1) research-based bilingual multicultural education and language revitalization programs and implications for instruction;

                (2) best practices in teaching English as a second language, English language development, bilingual multicultural education and language revitalization programs;

                (3) classroom assessments that support academic and language development;

                (4) principles of first and second language acquisition, including language revitalization, differentiated language instruction and sheltered content instruction; and

                (5) effective practices of program implementation and program evaluation.

          E. With council approval, a cooperative may offer professional development to school personnel in school districts and charter schools that are not members of the cooperative and may charge a course fee, which shall not be more than the actual per-participant cost of attendance at the professional development program.

          F. Each participating cooperative shall provide direct technical assistance, in addition to professional development, that results in improved culturally and linguistically responsive education in public schools. The participating cooperatives shall work closely with appropriate service providers to build and support cooperative, school district and charter school internal capacity of their staff and their members' staff to ensure long-term, local, sustained support to teachers and other school personnel who work with culturally and linguistically diverse students."

     SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION.--One million nine hundred ninety thousand dollars ($1,990,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the public education department for expenditure in fiscal year 2020 for regional education cooperatives to provide or contract for technical assistance and professional development for their members and other school districts or charter schools, as requested. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2020 shall revert to the general fund.

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