Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are available on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us). Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may also be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

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

SPONSOR	Ponce		DATE TYPED	2-17-04		HB	HJM 6/aHEC
SHORT TITLE		Study Early Childhood Education Programs				SB
					ANALYST		Segura

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY04	FY05	FY04	FY05
	NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Department of Public Education (PED)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amends page 3, line 8 and inserts new language “with each student’s first name, last name and date of birth. The amendment does not change the original intent of the original bill.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Joint Memorial 6 requests the Center for Education Research (CER) be requested to begin designing and conducting research that follows children to enter and proceed through schools included in the student-level database maintained by the PED. HJM 6 further requests the PED give CER access to the relevant datasets, including datasets that link student identification numbers with each student’s first name, last name and date of birth.

HJM 6 also requests the CER submit the results of its study to the Legislature, the PED and the Legislative Education Study Committee.

.

Significant Issues

Program improvement relies on short and long-term studies to assess the effectiveness of the various programmatic approaches. Such studies, however, are limited by statutory provisions that limit the disclosure of personally identifiable student information without parental consent. According to the PED, the exceptions set forth in the implementing regulations do not appear to support the type of longitudinal study requested by this memorial.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

In its analysis, CYFD reports that:

CYFD has made the commitment to work with the Public Education Department, Department of Health, the Head State Collaboration Project and Child Care Providers serving four-year-olds. In conjunction with these agencies, CYFD is developing the New Mexico State Early Learning Plan. The plan will serve as a blueprint for the alignment of existing early education systems, birth through third grade. The plan will include learning outcomes defining what children will need to know and be able to do to be successful when entering kindergarten, program standards for programs serving four-year-olds, analysis of the appropriate professional qualifications of pre-school teachers and a strategic plan for financing early childhood education.

LB/RS:lg:dm