“Elections are foundational to our democracy, so we wanted to get candidate positions on a variety of topics,” said Brian Etheridge, MD, FAAP, president of the NM Pediatric Society. “We asked about a range of issues – from child health and well-being to education funding, the economy, the 2020 Census, public land use, and more.”
Searchlight NM--“That means that New Mexico will receive fewer Medicaid dollars, fewer SNAP dollars, fewer Title 1 grants for schools, less money for our school lunch program, and less funding for Head Start,” said Amber Wallin, deputy director of New Mexico Voices for Children.
Given the many challenges faced by our children, New Mexico should be making whatever investments are necessary to ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive and achieve success. Instead, over the last decade New Mexico has made some of the deepest cuts to K-12 education in the country. While some funding was restored during the 2018 legislative session, we are still far behind where we should be on a per-student, inflation-adjusted basis.
“Across the nation, children of color and children from low-resource families are much more likely to face barriers to success in school and beyond. These children are more likely than their white peers to go to schools that are underfunded and that struggle to attract the best teachers. These children are more likely to be behind even before they enter the schoolhouse doors.
KOAT TV--"We've tried to tax cut and budget cut our way to prosperity. This data shows that clearly didn't work, we need a change of direction,” Jimenez said. “It's clear that our elected officials are not doing enough to invest in children."
Las Cruces Sun-News--Officials with New Mexico Voices for Children, which partners on the survey, point to a decline in state funding as the cause for many of these problems. Deputy Director Amber Wallin said the state has passed 37 tax cuts since 2008; has reduced per-pupil funding for schools and money for higher education; and has cut back on the number of school-based health centers.
Public News Service--"It's time for citizens to really push these candidates on what they're going to do to improve child well-being," he insisted. "There are a lot of solutions out there if we really believe children are our most important asset."
Santa Fe New Mexican--“The data says to me that the policy approach that we have taken over the last eight to 10 years has not been working,” said James Jimenez, executive director of the Albuquerque-based advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children, which works closely with the Casey Foundation. “It says that we really don’t have much of a commitment to improving the lives of children,” Jimenez added.
State Data Sheet New Mexico has fallen to 50th in the nation in child well-being after ranking 49th for the past four years. This state profile shows how our children are faring on the 16 indicators of child well-being used in the national KIDS COUNT rankings. (State-level data on indicators of child well-being)
New Mexico is ranked dead last in the nation for child well-being, ranking 50th in the national KIDS COUNT® Data Book, which was released June 27 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. New Mexico ranked 50th once before, in 2013. “New Mexico’s dismal ranking should serve as a wake-up call to our state that we must act—and that action must be comprehensive and sustained,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, the KIDS COUNT anchor for New Mexico.