HOUSE BILL 297

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

Anita Gonzales and Debra M. Sariñana and Tanya Mirabal Moya

AN ACT

RELATING TO SCHOOL PERSONNEL; PROVIDING FOR LICENSURE ENDORSEMENT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR ALL GRADES.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 22-10A-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 8, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-10A-6. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE.--

          A. The department shall require a person seeking licensure or reciprocity in elementary, special, early childhood or secondary education to have completed the following minimum requirements in the college of arts and sciences:

                (1) nine semester hours in communication;

                (2) six semester hours in mathematics;

                (3) eight semester hours in laboratory science;

                (4) nine semester hours in social and behavioral science; and

                (5) nine semester hours in humanities and fine arts.

          B. In addition to the requirements specified in Subsections A and C of this section, the department shall require that a person seeking standard or alternative elementary licensure shall have completed six hours of reading courses, and a person seeking standard or alternative secondary licensure shall have completed three hours of reading courses in subject matter content. The department shall establish requirements that provide a reasonable period of time to comply with the provisions of this subsection.

          C. Except for licensure by reciprocity, the department shall require, prior to initial licensure, no less than sixteen weeks of student teaching, a portion of which shall occur in the first thirty credit hours taken in the college of education and shall be under the direct supervision of a teacher and a portion of which shall occur in the student's senior year with the student teacher being directly responsible for the classroom.

          D. Nothing in this section shall preclude the department from establishing or accepting equivalent requirements for purposes of reciprocal licensure or minimum requirements for alternative licensure.

          E. Vocational teacher preparatory programs may be exempt from Subsections A through C of this section upon a determination by the department that other licensure requirements are more appropriate for vocational teacher preparatory programs.

          F. [Before December 31, 2021, the department shall create a license endorsement in secondary computer science available to all teachers who hold a] Teachers seeking to add an endorsement for computer science on a valid license [and] shall demonstrate sufficient content knowledge in computer science [as determined by the department]. The department shall consult with computer science education experts with experience in creating or supporting computer science endorsement pathways when developing computer science endorsement requirements. The endorsement requires the teacher to have:

                (1) earned fifteen post-secondary course credits in computer science;

                (2) passed the department-approved teacher licensure examination for computer science;

                (3) a minimum of two years of work experience in an industry related to computer science, which the applicant must validate using a verifiable list of references;

                (4) an industry certification in a field related to computer science, which the applicant must validate using official documentation of the industry certification;

                (5) completed sixty hours of professional development within the three years immediately prior to applying for a computer science endorsement, which the applicant must validate using documentation from the organization that provided the professional development, including the number of hours of each training; or

                (6) three or more years of computer science teaching experience, including computer coding program structure in one or more languages, debugging computer programs, computer modeling and skills relevant to applications such as data management, graphics and text processing, which the applicant must validate with a letter signed by a school district administrator, charter school administrator or school principal."

     SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION.--Two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the public education department for expenditure in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 for professional development for teachers who want a computer science endorsement or want to maintain the endorsement. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2027 shall revert to the general fund.

- 4 -