46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

REQUESTING THAT THE LEGISLATURE SUPPORT STATE ACTION FOR A TEACHER CERTIFICATION PLAN IN NEW MEXICO'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE PLAN.

WHEREAS, qualified teachers should lead every classroom in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, as New Mexico imposes higher standards on its students, higher standards must also be imposed on New Mexico's teachers; and

WHEREAS, during the 2000-2001 school year, over two thousand teachers, ten percent of the New Mexico teacher work force, were not trained in the subjects they were teaching; and

WHEREAS, in high-poverty schools, twenty percent of the teachers were not trained in the subjects they were teaching; and

WHEREAS, not providing certified teachers in New Mexico's classrooms is denying students the education to which they are entitled; and

WHEREAS, the United States congress, recognizing a national need for teacher certification, passed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires, in participating states, that all teachers teaching in core academic subjects in each public elementary and secondary school should be highly qualified no later than the end of the 2005-2006 school year;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that during the 2003 legislative interim, the superintendent of public instruction be requested to conduct a study to determine how a statewide plan for teacher certification in New Mexico's public schools and sanctions against school districts for noncompliance could be developed and that the superintendent appear before the legislative education study committee to discuss the findings; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the superintendent of public instruction and the governor.