SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 21

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

John M. Sapien

 

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE AND THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE COST OF AND ISSUES WITH THE REDISTRICTING OF LARGE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

 

     WHEREAS, the legislature in 2002 passed a bill to require the redistricting of all school districts over thirty-five thousand students; and

     WHEREAS, that bill, House Bill 153, was vetoed by the governor on the basis that the new law would require the Albuquerque public school district to redistrict into three smaller districts of fewer than thirty-five thousand students each; and

     WHEREAS, from a study conducted between 1993 and 1995 by BDM education technologies and research and polling, incorporated, for the state department of public education, on the question of decentralization of the Albuquerque public school district, the following arguments in favor of redistricting for smaller districts were put forward:

          A. greater community control and influence over public education;

          B. more effectiveness in integrating with communities;

          C. providing greater community input at the local level;

          D. providing local public schools with more field and resource personnel;

          E. providing efficient maintenance and support for local public schools;

          F. reducing administrative span of control;

          G. providing greater linkages between local public schools and the central school board;

          H. redirecting spending for local public school needs; and

          I. providing greater curriculum continuity; and

     WHEREAS, BDM education technologies also presented the following arguments in favor of large districts:

          A. greater political influence because of the local district's political clout at the state and federal levels;

          B. the ability to offer a broader curriculum;

          C. attracting a more varied and talented pool of teachers; and

          D. savings in administrative costs, freeing more funds for instructional costs; and

     WHEREAS, although BDM education technologies concluded that New Mexico school data validate the arguments against decentralizing the Albuquerque public school district, educational research referenced in the state's 2005-2008 funding formula study indicates that smaller school and district sizes are educational virtues for nearly all student populations and are generally associated with positive academic results; and

     WHEREAS, the funding formula study showed that the most effective economies of scale were seen in school districts of between ten and twenty-three thousand students; and

     WHEREAS, other research shows that reducing the size of a school district will not alone improve academic performance and graduation rates; everyone involved, from students and teachers to parents and the community, must improve the new district's culture and have a stake in the school's or school district's success; and

     WHEREAS, this continuing concern about large school districts, particularly the Albuquerque public school district, which is the state's largest at approximately ninety thousand students, needs to be addressed so that the legislature and other education policymakers may make informed decisions about how to improve public school outcomes for students and parents and the communities in which they reside;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee and the legislative finance committee be requested to undertake a study of the costs and benefits of redistricting large school districts, as well as other issues, including programmatic, fiscal and capital needs; debt between old and new districts; and social and community concerns; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department and the center for education policy research at the university of New Mexico be requested to assist the committees in their study; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committees report to the first session of the fifty-fourth legislature; and

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

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