HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 2

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022

INTRODUCED BY

James G. Townsend and Rod Montoya

 

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING THE LEGISLATURE'S SUPPORT FOR LOCAL CONTROL OF PUBLIC EDUCATION AND REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE AND REPORT TO THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIFTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE ON STATUTORY AND RULE CHANGES NECESSARY TO ENHANCE LOCAL CONTROL.

 

     WHEREAS, local control has been a bedrock principle in the history of the New Mexico public school system, from its start in the common school movement of the nineteenth century to modern day; and

     WHEREAS, the Public School Code is predicated on control of public schools by elected local school boards and is most obviously seen in the funding formula, which passes legislative appropriations to school districts for expenditures based on budgets adopted by each local school board, subject only to legislatively determined statewide public school policy and Article 12, Section 1 of the constitution of New Mexico that requires a uniform system of public schools for all children of school age in the state; and

     WHEREAS, it has been nineteen years since the last major public education reform package, which also means nineteen years of piecemeal amendment of the Public School Code and eighteen years of public schools being administered by a gubernatorial appointee rather than by a state board made up of members elected from districts representing regional interests and needs; and

     WHEREAS, in that time, the legislature and the public education department have sometimes strayed from the principle of local control;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislature express its support for the principle of local control of school districts; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education study committee be requested to convene a task force made up of committee members appointed by the chair of the legislative education study committee and representatives of the public education department, the New Mexico school boards association and the New Mexico school superintendents' association; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force look at statutes and public education department rules and procedures to determine those that impede on the power of local boards to administer their school districts or stifle their ability to respond to local needs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force make recommendations to the legislative education study committee, the legislature and the governor by December 1, 2022 on changes to laws, rules and procedures to maintain local control and enhance flexibility of school districts to respond to local needs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chair of the legislative education study committee, the secretary of public education, the New Mexico school boards association and the New Mexico school superintendents' association.

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