A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP PROCEDURES TO ALLOW SCHOOLS TO MEET THE PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS OF THE STATE'S ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM WITHOUT ADVERSELY AFFECTING AN EDUCATOR'S "TIME TO TEACH".

WHEREAS, the primary responsibility of educators is the delivery of quality instruction to students; and

WHEREAS, an educator's "time to teach" refers not only to those hours during which an educator is actually teaching but also applies to those conditions that contribute to the student-educator relationship; and

WHEREAS, these conditions include reasonable, carefully defined workloads, freedom from interruptions during instructional time, unencumbered planning time, time to evaluate student progress and time for implementation of federal and state legislative requirements; and

WHEREAS, while the legislature recognizes that accountability requires reporting on the uses of funding derived from federal, state and local education programs, the legislature also believes that in order for the classroom educator to spend adequate time on instructional duties, the paperwork burden on the practitioner must be reduced and held to an absolute minimum; and

WHEREAS, the legislature further believes that teachers and other educational employees need the freedom and flexibility to schedule time and design programs to meet the needs of students; and

WHEREAS, the legislature believes that current implementation of the state's accountability system adversely affects an educator's "time to teach";

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state board of education be requested to develop procedures to allow schools to meet the paperwork requirements of the state's accountability system without adversely affecting an educator's "time to teach"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the superintendent of public instruction be requested to report on the progress of these procedures to the appropriate interim legislative committee prior to the first session of the forty-seventh legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the state board of education, the chair of the appropriate interim legislative committee and the superintendent of public instruction.