| Welcome
to the e-Voices MONDAY MINUTE, your weekly email newsletter from New
Mexico Voices for Children. Please take a minute to add your voice to the
pressing issues of the day. Also, tell us what issues you'd like to know more
about so we can tailor the MONDAY MINUTE to your interests. Thanks! October 23, 2006
Fare Thee Well...
It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of our executive director’s decision to leave NM Voices for Children. Kay Monaco has been at the helm – and very capably so – for nearly a decade. She has no immediate career plans, but feels that she has accomplished here what she set out to.
And boy what she’s accomplished! Kay built this advocacy organization into the leading researcher in the state on issues of children’s health and well being. Other groups and organizations regularly request and use our research and data analysis. Kay also fearlessly led us into the tax and budget policy jungle and made us a state leader in that regard, as well. To effectively butcher a quote from our Board President, Nancy Jo Archer, Kay took us “where we had not gone before.”
We hope to have Kay with us until next March. In the meantime, the Board will be searching for a suitable replacement. The full job description is posted on our website here: http://www.nmvoices.org/employment.htm
Time for a Raise in Pay Albuquerque’s City Council voted last May to raise the minimum wage for all people employed within the city limits. The Bernalillo County Commission is expected to debate and vote on a similar ordinance proposed by Commissioner Alan Armijo tomorrow (although we have word that it might be delayed). Like the Albuquerque ordinance, the minimum wage would go up to $6.75 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2007, and eventually to $7.50 by 2009. The current federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.
What you can do:
TV Debates
If you’re not up for the wage debate, you might stay home and watch a different debate. Patricia Madrid and Heather Wilson will duke it out for New Mexico’s First Congressional District on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 7pm, on KOB-TV, channel 4.
Then Jeff Bingaman and Allen McCulloch meet up over their match for the Senate race. That’s on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 4pm, on KOB-TV, channel 4.
The
Talk of the Town One of the issues the next Congress will address that’s of great importance to us is the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Originally funded ten years ago, SCHIP helps New Mexico cover some of the children not eligible for Medicaid. Congress is expected to consider whether or not to reauthorize SCHIP early next year.
While the program is obviously of value to children, there’s much more at stake here. SCHIP will play an important role – as will Medicaid – if New Mexico is ever to offer a health care plan that covers everyone.
If you’d like to learn more about SCHIP, Medicaid, and the current state of health care in New Mexico, we invite you to participate in our town hall. The Crisis in Health Care and the New Congress is Thursday, Nov. 9, from 6pm to 8pm, at Smith Brasher Hall (southwest corner of Coal and University in Albuquerque) on the CNM campus (formerly TVI). We’ll have a panel of state and federal experts who will share their perspectives of how the battle will shape up on both fronts. They will also take questions from the audience.
Admission is free, we only ask that you RSVP (online registration will be available on our website shortly).
College Prepped New information from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows a rise in the percentage of high school sophomores who reported that they were taking college prep courses. EPI’s Economic Snapshot shows an 18 percent increase overall between 1980 and 2002.
That’s good news, but what’s even better is when the data is aggregated by race it shows that the lion’s share of the gains have been made by minority students. Blacks showed the highest increase in college prep classes (23 percent), with Native Americans (22 percent) and Hispanics (19 percent) following closely behind. The overall increases were similar for both public and private schools.
You can check out this Economic Snapshot here: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_20061018
You’ve Got to be Taught...
Speaking of race and education, UNM hosted two scholars from San Francisco State University last week, who spoke about how racial disparities are perpetuated in urban schools.
Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade said that teachers wield the most influence when it comes to addressing the problem and instilling change, but that most aren’t willing to take risks. A.A. Akom said America is in denial that there is a racial problem.
At NM Voices we’ve been addressing the racial problem for several months now with our Race Matters Task Force Meetings. A new group has been formed that will address educational issues. Contact Felicia Griffin at fgriffin@nmvoices.org if you’d like to join that group. Please join us for the next task force meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Visit http://www.nmvoices.org/racematters.htm for more information and to register.
Call for Nominees
Know a young New Mexican who’s made a difference in their community through community service or volunteerism? Nominate him or her for the 2007 Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award. The award honors New Mexico youths in two age groups (13-18 and 19-26) for their work. Nominations are evaluated on evidence of the nominee’s vision, initiative and dedication.
The deadline for nominations is 3pm, Friday, Feb. 9, 2007. If you’d like a nomination packet mailed to you call 505-244-9505, ext. 10. You can also download the forms here: www.nmvoices.org/abysa.htm. The awards ceremony will be Friday, April 20, 2007, in Albuquerque.
Your financial support is critical to our work. Please consider
making a contribution today at http://www.nmvoices.org/donate.htm
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