The Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico lawsuit has brought renewed attention to the state’s constitutional responsibility to provide a sufficient education for all students, particularly Native American students, English learners and students with disabilities.
New Mexico lawmakers should have enough revenue to build upon their recent work supporting families and children. At the August 26 meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee, the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) released their first estimate of how much money the state should expect to be available for the upcoming 2027-28 fiscal year (FY 28).
By Paige Knight May 16, 2025 New Mexico’s kids - not billionaires - should be the beneficiaries of the natural resources that belong to us all. Yet, under Congressional Republicans' current budget proposal, oil [...]
January 21, 2025 As child advocates, we strive for long-term, sustainable change and rely on data to understand which policies will most effectively meet the needs of our families. To support Legislators as they [...]
El Semanario--While it’s great to know that the expansion of universal child care has such a dramatic effect on lowering poverty in New Mexico for the children and families who receive the program, there is one significant way in which the CA program falls short: wages for child care and other early care and education (ECE) workers remain unacceptably low. If we can use our CA program to lift kids and families out of poverty, why don’t we use it to lift the people who provide that care out of poverty as well?
The Paper--New Mexico is a land with many valuable assets – from our rich cultural diversity to our stunning physical beauty, to our mineral wealth. These assets belong to us all and while it’s impossible to put a price on some of them – our culture and natural landscape, to be precise – we can and do put a price on our mineral wealth. And that price needs to be fair so that we are all receiving the benefit of the bounty beneath our feet.
Another legislative session is behind us and while this was budget-only, 30-day session, there is still plenty to celebrate for families and children. Read about the highlights here.
Rio Rancho Observer--New Mexico’s children deserve every opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential. With the critical funding our Legislature appropriated, these programs will reduce childhood poverty and improve educational outcomes for children. They will also expand economic opportunities for families across New Mexico. And we know that kids do better when families have the resources they need.
KRWG--For far too long, antiquated policies under the current leasing system have left our families on the hook to pay to clean up messes left behind by bankrupt oil and gas companies – messes involving orphaned wells with decaying and leaking infrastructure that can pollute our air and water. This has robbed our communities of tax dollars that could have been put to use improving our children’s classrooms, and our hospitals and roadways.
Las Cruces Sun-News--The fact is, New Mexico has made some extraordinary headway in improving opportunities for kids in recent years. Some of it’s made nationwide headlines. Our investments in child care assistance, voter-approved expansion of early childhood services, and child-focused tax policy improvements all received national accolades.