New Mexico
U.S.
Rank
Score:
72%
Grade:
C
Rank:
#26
The winds of negativity against charter schools seem to be partially shifting. The state made critical changes in the area of financial support for facilities and actual access to buildings, by providing a $700 per-pupil lease assistance allotment, creating a $10 million revolving loan fund, and ensuring unused district facilities are offered to charter schools.
Law passed: 1993
Most recently amended: 2021
Number of charter schools: 98
Number of charter students: 29,016
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes. A maximum of 15 new charter schools per year, which roll over to the next year if the limit is not met. There is also a cap of 75 schools in any five year period.
Virtual charters allowed? No
AUTHORIZERS: Local districts and the state public education commission can authorize charter schools, but the commission has grown increasingly hostile to charter expansions. Appeals for denied applications from either type of authorizer goes to the state education secretary.
New Mexico also has Charter School Districts, and the state education department oversees the Charter Districts, which are conversion schools.
GROWTH: In addition to the annual and 5-year caps, charters in sparsely-populated districts may enroll no more than 10 percent of students in the sending district, an arbitrary restriction. The overly regulatory environment hampers growth here.
OPERATIONS: The law provides limited exemptions for charters and they must negotiate for extra exemptions directly with their authorizers. The state commission, which is elected unless any other state charter commission, is beholden to special interests and rewards compliance over educational success.
EQUITY: It also enacted a five-year phasing out of a funding adjustment for small schools, including charters. Charters are entitled to 98 percent of per-pupil operations costs, with two percent deducted for authorizer administrative fees. The law also stipulates that school boards that authorize charters provide the portion of state and federal per-pupil funds attached to each student. Charters receive some per-pupil facilities funding, but it is not equitable to the amount traditional public schools receive. However in 2019, a new law was enacted limiting funding to students under 21 years of age, and prescribed across-the-board salary increases for school staff, and higher minimum salaries for teachers and principals.
Score:
Grade:
F
Rank:
#45
There are no choice programs in this state.
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#16
Does not require student growth data to be included in teacher evaluations, generally lacking rigorous teacher preparation programs such as elementary school mathematics content knowledge.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 64%
General Teacher Preparation 68%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 68%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 75%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 55%
Alternate Routes 55%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 79%
Hiring 85%
Retaining Effective Teachers 73%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 77%
Score:
72%
Grade:
C
Rank:
#26
The winds of negativity against charter schools seem to be partially shifting. The state made critical changes in the area of financial support for facilities and actual access to buildings, by providing a $700 per-pupil lease assistance allotment, creating a $10 million revolving loan fund, and ensuring unused district facilities are offered to charter schools.
Law passed: 1993
Most recently amended: 2021
Number of charter schools: 98
Number of charter students: 29,016
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes. A maximum of 15 new charter schools per year, which roll over to the next year if the limit is not met. There is also a cap of 75 schools in any five year period.
Virtual charters allowed? No
AUTHORIZERS: Local districts and the state public education commission can authorize charter schools, but the commission has grown increasingly hostile to charter expansions. Appeals for denied applications from either type of authorizer goes to the state education secretary.
New Mexico also has Charter School Districts, and the state education department oversees the Charter Districts, which are conversion schools.
GROWTH: In addition to the annual and 5-year caps, charters in sparsely-populated districts may enroll no more than 10 percent of students in the sending district, an arbitrary restriction. The overly regulatory environment hampers growth here.
OPERATIONS: The law provides limited exemptions for charters and they must negotiate for extra exemptions directly with their authorizers. The state commission, which is elected unless any other state charter commission, is beholden to special interests and rewards compliance over educational success.
EQUITY: It also enacted a five-year phasing out of a funding adjustment for small schools, including charters. Charters are entitled to 98 percent of per-pupil operations costs, with two percent deducted for authorizer administrative fees. The law also stipulates that school boards that authorize charters provide the portion of state and federal per-pupil funds attached to each student. Charters receive some per-pupil facilities funding, but it is not equitable to the amount traditional public schools receive. However in 2019, a new law was enacted limiting funding to students under 21 years of age, and prescribed across-the-board salary increases for school staff, and higher minimum salaries for teachers and principals.
Score:
Grade:
F
Rank:
#45
There are no choice programs in this state.
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#16
Does not require student growth data to be included in teacher evaluations, generally lacking rigorous teacher preparation programs such as elementary school mathematics content knowledge.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 64%
General Teacher Preparation 68%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 68%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 75%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 55%
Alternate Routes 55%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 79%
Hiring 85%
Retaining Effective Teachers 73%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 77%
Score:
Grade:
D
Rank:
#46
Innovative Digital Education and Learning in New Mexico (IDEAL NM) is a statewide online learning program that partners with PK-12 school districts, higher institutions, and government agencies to expand opportunities through e-learning. IDEAL NM offers fully-online, supplemental, and blended courses to 81 out of the 89 public school districts, charter schools, and private schools in the state. There are approximately 1,000 students enrolled.
The lack of access to internet connectivity has been a long-lasting issue faced by rural and Tribal communities in the state. An April 2020 press release from the governor highlighted that 80% of the population in Indian Country New Mexico does not have access to broadband internet. “Internet service providers have long maintained it is not in the best interest of their companies to pursue expanding broadband services to tribal communities, who oftentimes are sparsely populated, due to the high cost of infrastructure needs for a small number of end users.”
Bandwidth: “96.6% of students in New Mexico can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 10,820 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.”
New Mexico does not have any policies promoting personalized learning.
Governor Grisham announced school closures on March 12th. New Mexico’s response to the COVID-19 crisis was quick and efficient, requiring districts to develop plans to continue learning, and taking steps to ensure all students had access to devices and the internet.
The guidance to districts centered on what was best for students: “Trying to support school-like learning in a home setting may frustrate teachers, students, and families. Educators should consider how to give students agency to pursue learning that is relevant to them via resources that are available at home and with meaningful family engagement as possible.”
The state website provided guidelines and resources on how learning plans could be improved, so that students could continue learning.
Reopening for the 2020-21 school year was delayed until at least September 8. Schools were not permitted to have in-person instruction until then, though were permitted to start earlier with distance learning. All students will begin the school year in a hybrid model of partial in-person and partial distance.
Fast Facts
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Score:
Grade:
D
Rank:
#46
Innovative Digital Education and Learning in New Mexico (IDEAL NM) is a statewide online learning program that partners with PK-12 school districts, higher institutions, and government agencies to expand opportunities through e-learning. IDEAL NM offers fully-online, supplemental, and blended courses to 81 out of the 89 public school districts, charter schools, and private schools in the state. There are approximately 1,000 students enrolled.
The lack of access to internet connectivity has been a long-lasting issue faced by rural and Tribal communities in the state. An April 2020 press release from the governor highlighted that 80% of the population in Indian Country New Mexico does not have access to broadband internet. “Internet service providers have long maintained it is not in the best interest of their companies to pursue expanding broadband services to tribal communities, who oftentimes are sparsely populated, due to the high cost of infrastructure needs for a small number of end users.”
Bandwidth: “96.6% of students in New Mexico can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 10,820 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.”
New Mexico does not have any policies promoting personalized learning.
Governor Grisham announced school closures on March 12th. New Mexico’s response to the COVID-19 crisis was quick and efficient, requiring districts to develop plans to continue learning, and taking steps to ensure all students had access to devices and the internet.
The guidance to districts centered on what was best for students: “Trying to support school-like learning in a home setting may frustrate teachers, students, and families. Educators should consider how to give students agency to pursue learning that is relevant to them via resources that are available at home and with meaningful family engagement as possible.”
The state website provided guidelines and resources on how learning plans could be improved, so that students could continue learning.
Reopening for the 2020-21 school year was delayed until at least September 8. Schools were not permitted to have in-person instruction until then, though were permitted to start earlier with distance learning. All students will begin the school year in a hybrid model of partial in-person and partial distance.
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is strongly aligned with the education establishment and would do well to listen to some of the more progressive members of her own party, like Rep. Yvette Herrell who continues to implore her to support the “children and parents of New Mexico and their right to choose their own education…” She was in favor of a moratorium on charter school enrollment that divided democrats in the state in 2019 and her secretaries of education have not been very progressive on innovation.
With both houses also sharing the same party as the governor there’s not much action going on that expands the opportunity of parents not only to make decisions about where they send their kids to school but whether they’re truly transformative learning approaches. Most of the action by the state legislature surrounds spending more money or supporting special interest programs. Thankfully they have defeated attempts to water down charter schools in most cases although not all.
Blaine Amendment language in two different sections of the state constitution have been interpreted to preclude direct flow of funds to private schools, in spite of parental choices. In the 2016-decided Moses v. Skandera, for example, the NM Supreme Court held that lending instructional materials for free to private school students violated the Constitution.
Report cards are difficult to find on the New Mexico Public Education Department homepage. Once found, reports cards are user-friendly and filled with relevant data on academic performance and learning environment. Reports contain clear language explaining what data means and how it was calculated, which is a great feature for informing parents.
Educational options are accessible from the main page where parents can find information on charters, chartering authorities, homeschool and more.
School board elections are during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is strongly aligned with the education establishment and would do well to listen to some of the more progressive members of her own party, like Rep. Yvette Herrell who continues to implore her to support the “children and parents of New Mexico and their right to choose their own education…” She was in favor of a moratorium on charter school enrollment that divided democrats in the state in 2019 and her secretaries of education have not been very progressive on innovation.
With both houses also sharing the same party as the governor there’s not much action going on that expands the opportunity of parents not only to make decisions about where they send their kids to school but whether they’re truly transformative learning approaches. Most of the action by the state legislature surrounds spending more money or supporting special interest programs. Thankfully they have defeated attempts to water down charter schools in most cases although not all.
Blaine Amendment language in two different sections of the state constitution have been interpreted to preclude direct flow of funds to private schools, in spite of parental choices. In the 2016-decided Moses v. Skandera, for example, the NM Supreme Court held that lending instructional materials for free to private school students violated the Constitution.
Report cards are difficult to find on the New Mexico Public Education Department homepage. Once found, reports cards are user-friendly and filled with relevant data on academic performance and learning environment. Reports contain clear language explaining what data means and how it was calculated, which is a great feature for informing parents.
Educational options are accessible from the main page where parents can find information on charters, chartering authorities, homeschool and more.
School board elections are during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.