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Morales Wants More Transparency In New Mexico Education

Senator Howie Morales

  Senator Howie Morales (D-28-Catron, Grant & Socorro) introduced Senate Memorial 61, requesting that the Legislative Education Study Committee examine the costs, benefits, disadvantages, and efficacy of New Mexico’s participation in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). A report is then to be provided to the Legislature no later than November 1, 2014.

“This memorial recognizes that CCSS and PARCC do not consider the diversity that New Mexico students have to offer or the financial hoops struggling schools have to jump through in order to implement these programs,” said Sen. Morales. “The millions it takes to outfit schools to prepare to accommodate these technical-based programs could be spent in vain, especially considering the lack of efficacy they have already shown in states like New York and Kentucky.”

According to Morales, tests are especially burdensome for students who are not proficient in English and who come from poverty-stricken homes. “This is highly concerning,” said Sen. Morales, “especially considering a recent report from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty stating that 30 percent of children in the state live in poverty. That means more than one in three children come from families living on less than $23,000 a year, which is the highest rate of childhood poverty in the country.”

“These are issues that cannot be ignored. The costs, the investment and the hardship on those who have to accommodate these standards must all be considered,” said Sen. Morales. “A detailed report will not only inform the legislature of the program efficacy, but will create accountability for those who implement such programs.”