KC Counts speaks with Lt. Gov. Howie Morales about navigating expected federal funding cuts that would impact education in New Mexico. Below, part 1 of this 2-part interview is transcribed:
KC Counts:
Tell us what the landscape looks like. Money has been taken, given back. Where do we stand today for New Mexico schools?
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales:
Yeah, when we look as far as the investments made in New Mexico schools, you know, the governor has really made it a priority to make a promise for the moonshot for education. Whether it's in increasing funds from the stateside to increased compensation for our educators, we've been able to do that. I believe we've had a 24% increase in compensation since we've taken office six and a half years ago, which has made us the highest paid in the region. And that's something we're proud of, but when we also see what we've done as a state, I mean, let's be clear, we're financially doing well in New Mexico, and we want to make sure that we're investing in all forms of education. So, we have our early childhood education department, which has seen a huge growth of our trust fund there that started with 300 million, now we sit at 10 billion. When you have a higher education trust fund that fully funds the lottery scholarship and holds the promise for the opportunity scholarship in case there's ever a downturn. And then, of course, in our K-12 system to continually infuse dollars. And what does that mean? It's more opportunity, more resources that are so important to the overall well-being of education. I know there's a lot of discussion that, you know, that's where we're at, but these things take time. And I believe that the investments have been made.
KC Counts:
Well, you mentioned that New Mexico, I think the only state that has a bigger sovereign fund is Alaska, right? And so, it is a lot of money and there are ongoing discussions about how to best make use of that money for New Mexico's children. Do you see a future where we dip more into that fund or tell us what you see as the best path forward?
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales:
Yeah, so, you know, as part of the legislature when there was many years of discussion to tap into the land grant permanent fund. Personally, I felt that we had the ability to be financially responsible while still taking a small portion of that. Ultimately, the voters voted that in and I supported that while in finance committee. As far as where we're at, there's some thoughts that with the permanent funds that we have, that they're just dollars that are sitting around. And the reality of it, there's a lot of dollars that are actually being put to use. And we're talking huge investments from that, that every year is there to provide support for our higher education institutions, K-12 and, like I said, early childhood. Those are key. So, I want the public to know that while we sit on a lot of permanent fund reserves, those dollars every year are being utilized for the benefit of New Mexico. Whether the legislature comes in with proposals to want to increase how much that we take out of that, that's left up for debate and discussion. I haven't seen any proposals that have been solid of what is wanted for that. But when you have issues and you have crises around the state like public safety, when you have issues that we need to deal with with our own state agencies, I think it's worth the discussion rather than have just a shutdown of any ideas. Let's have a discussion. Let's see what that looks like, and let's see what to do to best benefit families across the state.
KC Counts:
Well, let's talk about the Public Education Department. No secret that there’ve been five secretaries, right, in five years. What's going on there at the top in that leadership role in terms of the lack of consistency, and is it a question of vision?
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales:
Yeah, so, you know, I was fortunate when I came in, and the governor did something that was really not heard of around the country, and she trusted her lieutenant governor when she asked me to take over the public education department. And so early on, before permanent secretary was named, we went in there with a thought and a mindset of wanting to make sure that one, as we brought the profession back to the level of professionals that they truly are, that we listen, that we try to make sure that we're supporting schools and not shutting down. And I think that that's been key. Obviously, it's a tough role to be in, and it's true. We've had, you know, secretaries that have been there and no longer are there, but I do feel that the work that's been done, each one of them built on one another to get us where we're at. Specifically now, when we talk about our secretary, Mariana Padilla, who has been with our administration from the beginning, has a really great understanding, and because of the litigation that came in with Yazzie Martinez, I think that it's given us a tremendous opportunity to partner with the Llano Foundation, to partner with other groups around the state, and to really go into communities to see how we can best address the needs and to do that. So, I think there's a lot of momentum right now, and I think this is part of the vision that the Secretary has brought forward.
You can listen to the second portion of this conversation here:
