HOUSE MEMORIAL 21

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Antonio "Moe" Maestas

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A FOUR-YEAR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION AT THE NEW MEXICO SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico school for the deaf is a land grant institution whose operation is provided for in the constitution of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico school for the deaf operates a thirty-acre campus that was granted by congress in the late 1800s; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico school for the deaf already is under the purview of the higher education department and receives a percentage of its funding from that state department; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico school for the deaf has provided bilingual residential educational and support services in American Sign Language and in English for deaf and hard-of-hearing students for more than one hundred years; and

     WHEREAS, there is a need for post-secondary educational institutions to pursue twenty-first-century reform in public education, including comprehensive systems in deaf and special education; and

     WHEREAS, the only post-secondary educational institution established to offer an educational program in both American Sign Language and English is Gallaudet university in Washington, D.C.; and

     WHEREAS, many deaf and hard-of-hearing students in New Mexico may prefer to remain geographically close to their families after completion of high school and while pursuing post-secondary education; and

     WHEREAS, many deaf or hard-of-hearing students outside of New Mexico may prefer to attend a bilingual post-secondary educational institution in a less densely populated area than Washington, D.C.; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico school for the deaf has the campus

and facilities to offer post-secondary education and thus provide greater educational opportunities for deaf and hard-of- hearing students in New Mexico and throughout the country; and

     WHEREAS, the conversion to a post-secondary educational institution for deaf and hard-of-hearing students on the campus of the New Mexico school for the deaf could cultivate the untapped potential of the institution and of students both inside and outside New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee be requested to convene a task force consisting of qualified staff from the public education department, the higher education department and experts in community engagement and educational reform to study the example of Gallaudet university for evaluating the feasibility of establishing the New Mexico school for the deaf as a bilingual public four-year post-secondary educational institution that embraces American Sign Language and English; and

      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public education, the public education commission, the secretary of higher education, the legislative education study committee and the legislative finance committee.

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