Looking at our public education system from a whole new angle
Imagine we were building our public education system from scratch. Summer vacations and early childhood education are among the aspects that we’d likely change.
Sep 22
2015
Aug 20
2015
Our baby steps toward expanding early childhood services are not getting us far
Given the news out of the Legislature, you’d think we’ve been rapidly expanding the early childhood services that will improve school outcomes. Actually, fewer children are receiving these services today than did five years ago.
Jul 23
2015
New Mexico is 49th in child well-being once again: What will it take to make change?
Another year… another ranking at the bottom of the barrel. New Mexico has ranked among the worst states in which to be a child for so long that it hardly seems like news anymore. In the 25-plus years that the Annie E. Casey Foundation has been publishing the KIDS COUNT Data Book, we’ve never ranked above 40th. Most years, we’ve ranked in the bottom five, but we can and we must do better by our kids.
Jul 14
2015
NM has the highest long-term unemployment and extreme hunger, so why does the state want to make parents work for food?
There’s an old saying that when you’re stuck in a hole the first thing you should do is stop digging. New Mexicans are used to hearing that their home state is in the hole. We are at the bottom of the nation in everything from child well-being to poverty to hunger. Despite this, there are some up in Santa Fe who want to continue to dig.
Jun 09
2015
Kansas could have avoided its economic tornado by learning from New Mexico’s mistakes
State income tax cuts for the wealthiest—like those enacted in New Mexico more than a decade ago—do not create jobs. Still, lawmakers continue to slash taxes—along with spending for critical services like education, and public health and safety.
May 19
2015
How closing economic disparities for racial/ethnic minorities will benefit all
As our nation’s racial demographics change we must take steps to close the opportunity gap if we are to keep our economy strong and keep the American dream viable.
May 07
2015
The real “mommy wars” are playing out in the workplace
The U.S. is one of just three countries on the globe with no guarantee of paid maternity leave. We also have no federal policy on paid family or sick leave. That puts mothers—particularly those earning low incomes—at a disadvantage in the workplace.
Apr 21
2015
Measuring the benefits of anti-poverty programs
While the official poverty level can tell us how many low-income families and children are eligible for anti-poverty programs, it cannot tell us how many are lifted out of poverty by those same programs.
Apr 15
2015
How corporate tax loopholes compromise our future
The notion of “paying it forward” is a popular one, and while we may not think about our income taxes as a form of paying it forward, that’s exactly what we’re doing. The public works that we all depend upon today—roads and highways, schools and parks, telecommunications and electrical grids, even courts and prisons—were made possible in part by taxes paid by past generations.
Apr 03
2015
Tax cuts, a special session, and the budgetary storm that’s brewing
If a special session to pass funding for public works projects is called, lawmakers must consider the budgetary problems on the horizon. The state’s budget is facing at least a $150 million hole next year and it would be irresponsible to dig that hole even deeper by handing out more tax cuts.