A Wednesday press release from New Mexico Voices for Children said a recent study done by the organization shows that student population growth outweighs New Mexico public education funding. “New Mexico was still spending less per student on K-12 public education in 2015 than it did before the recession (in 2008),” said the release.
Children from low-income families who were enrolled in the state-funded New Mexico PreK program as 4-year-olds outperformed their peers a few years later, as third-graders, on the state’s standardized PARCC tests in 2015, a new legislative study says.
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico state budget officials project a $150 million to $200 million deficit this fiscal year due to falling oil prices; and advocates say Gov. Susana Martinez's order for a five percent spending cut by state agencies could hurt New Mexico's most vulnerable children. Critics blame the state's business development policies for putting New Mexico in the hole.
When Veronica García begins her tenure as interim superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools on Monday, two days before students fill the district’s classrooms, it will be a homecoming of sorts. She led the district for just over two financially turbulent years, from 1999 to 2001.
New Mexico Voices for Children has chosen an experienced public official and one of its own staff to be its new executive director. The child advocacy organization announced Tuesday that James Jimenez, who joined New Mexico Voices for Children as director of policy and research in 2013, will replace Veronica García, who recently left to become the interim superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — James Jimenez, a former chief of staff under Gov. Bill Richardson, former cabinet secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration and former Rio Rancho city manager, is the new executive director for New Mexico Voices for Children, it was announced Tuesday.
If we’re going to be successful in fixing this thing before it crashes and burns, we need to look at the other failing pieces. Namely, that the state hasn’t been collecting enough money to cover all of our important expenses like education, health care, and public safety. We’ve been passing big tax cuts since 2003. Income tax cuts have been thrown at profitable corporations and the people earning the most money. These tax cuts were supposed to “create” jobs. They didn’t.
SANTA FE, N.M. — It will be “stay the course” for Santa Fe Public Schools – at least until the school district finds a permanent replacement for Superintendent Joel Boyd, who resigned last week to take a job in the private sector. “School is starting, resources have been allocated. It would be very disruptive at this time to try to bring in more initiatives,” said Veronica García, who the Santa Fe school board hired as interim superintendent during a special meeting that began last Friday and ended Saturday.
Hundreds of New Mexico’s most dedicated child advocates brought their collective energy to bear on the third annual Kids Count Conference in Albuquerque recently. As KSFR’s Deborah Martinez reports, the group intends to have an impact on the next legislative session in January...
LAS CRUCES - Since Las Cruces resident Karen Acosta-Lombino, 45, a mother of three, began buying produce at the Las Cruces Farmers & Crafts Market through the Double Up Food Bucks program, her family has started eating more fruits and vegetables. “There’s always fruit in the fridge now and now I cook with fresh vegetables instead of buying them frozen,” Acosta-Lombino said.