Skillful educators with robust knowledge are the most important school-based factor impacting student learning. Significantly, the potential impact of high quality teachers is the greatest for students of color and those from low-income families. This well-established research is especially important in New Mexico, where U.S. Census data shows 77 percent of students are students of color and 23.5 percent of children live below the poverty line. However, New Mexico faces challenges in recruiting and retaining effective, high-quality teachers to serve every student. In a ruling in the Martinez-Yazzie education sufficiency lawsuit, the court found “highly effective teachers are key to improving proficiency and these teachers need to be allocated to schools that serve the most at-risk students.” LESC and the New Mexico Legislature work to align budget and policy to fill classroom vacancies and improve the quality of teachers in the classroom.