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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Sanchez		DATE TYPED:	02/06/02		HB	392
SHORT TITLE:		Professional Development for Teachers				SB
					ANALYST:		Segura

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY02	FY03	FY02	FY03
	$550.0			Recurring	GF

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

State Department of Education (SDE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 392 appropriates $550.0 to SDE to contract for professional development programs for primary and secondary teachers regarding trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Significant Issues

House Bill 392 supports the federally funded character education pilot program in which the State Department of Education and 15 school districts participated between 1995-2000.

According to SDE, New Mexico was one of the first states funded under the Secretary’s Fund for the Improvement of Education: Partnerships in Character Education. The New Mexico program was based on character counts, six pillars of character and was designed to integrate schools and communities in their understanding and promotion of character.

Project evaluation indicates that success depends on training for teachers and community members who could then implement stronger more effective and purposeful programs.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

HB392 appropriates $550.0 in general fund and is recurring. The department indicates that compared to may federally funded projects, this project has limited funding ($1,000,000.0) over five years. The New Mexico project developed useful publications that have been distributed to all public school districts. However, limited federal funding does not support training to accompany the materials. If this bill were enacted, training for teachers and communities would be available.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

SDE indicates that staff is available to coordinate the implementation of this initiative.

RMS/prr