HOUSE BILL 87

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Christine Trujillo and Debra M. Sariñana and

Patricia Roybal Caballero

 

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION; CREATING THE STATE BILINGUAL MULTICULTURAL ADVISORY COUNCIL; PROVIDING DUTIES.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. A new section of the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] STATE BILINGUAL MULTICULTURAL ADVISORY COUNCIL--CREATED--MEMBERSHIP--DUTIES.--

          A. The "state bilingual multicultural advisory council" is created and shall advise the secretary, department staff, the governor and the legislature through its interim and standing committees on the effective implementation of the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act and the support of all English language learners to have equitable access to instruction and learning as required by state and federal education and civil rights laws.

          B. The council consists of fifteen members who have technical knowledge of and expertise in bilingual multicultural education and teaching English to English language learners as follows:

                (1) three members appointed or designated by the Indian nations, tribes and pueblos they represent;

                (2) nine members who represent pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers, principals, superintendents, other education administrators and higher education faculty who are from different geographical areas of the state and at least one of whom has a special education background; and

                (3) three parents of bilingual students, including one parent of an American Indian student and one parent of a Hispanic student, whose students are enrolled in bilingual multicultural education programs.

          C. The department shall appoint council members from a list approved by both the department and the bilingual multicultural education advisory council co-chairs that is representative of various stakeholder groups.

          D. Members of the council shall begin to serve their appointments on July 1, 2020 for a term to last no longer than three years. All council members may serve two consecutive terms, and co-chairs may serve one additional year to assist with transition. The secretary may stagger terms on the council.

          E. The council shall:

                (1) study issues of bilingual multicultural education for all students, including the needs of English language learners, and provide advice to the department in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, teacher preparation, teacher evaluation, professional development, licensure and student and family services to:

                     (a) strengthen the quality of bilingual multicultural education programs;

                     (b) promote rigorous culturally and linguistically responsive instruction in bilingual multicultural education programs; and

                     (c) support effective classroom teaching for participating bilingual multicultural education program students, including English language learners who may or may not be part of standalone federal Title 3 programs; and

                (2) advise the department on issues such as:

                     (a) recruiting, developing and training effective bilingual multicultural teachers and teachers of English language learners;

                     (b) identifying professional development best practices to support teachers, educational assistants and other licensed employees to work effectively with bilingual multicultural education program students, including English language learners;

                     (c) promoting professional development opportunities to build the capacity of public education administrators to effectively lead bilingual multicultural education programs and become knowledgeable regarding second language acquisition research, theory and pedagogy, including culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices;

                     (d) developing solutions for streamlining and strengthening program management, implementation and monitoring of bilingual multicultural education programs at the state, district and school site levels;

                     (e) developing family and community partnerships representative of the languages and cultures of all students in the program, to assist and advise in the development, implementation and evaluation of the program; and

                     (f) achieving programmatic goals, including academic achievement in two languages and bilingual biliteracy growth as demonstrated and measured by language proficiency in targeted bilingual multicultural education programs, based on data for all students placed in bilingual multicultural programs, including English language learners.

          F. Members of the council may receive per diem and mileage as provided for nonsalaried public officers in the Per Diem and Mileage Act."

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