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

SPONSOR Salazar

DATE TYPED 02/12/05 HB 397

SHORT TITLE American Indian Headstart Literacy Initiative

SB

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$193.7

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to the appropriation for the University of New Mexico in the General Appropriations

Act.

Relates to HB337, SB360

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Commission on Higher Education (CHE)

New Mexico Public Education Department (PED)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

New Mexico Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 397 – Making an Appropriation to Continue the KNME-TVs American Indian Head

Start Literacy Initiative to Provide Culturally Relevant Preschool Curricula for Native American

Children – appropriates $193,652 from the general fund to the University of New Mexico Board

of Regents for expenditure in FY06 to continue and expand a collaboration among the University

of New Mexico Native American Studies faculty, KNME-TV, the Children, Youth and Families

House Bill 397 -- Page 2

Department and other New Mexico educational institutions to implement provisions of the In-

dian Education Act by continuing to design, develop and implement culturally relevant tribal and

urban Indian preschool curricula that foster English literacy and support the maintenance and

development of native languages. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the

end of FY06 shall revert to the general fund.

Significant Issues

IAD notes that this initiative aims to increase the early English literacy skills of American Indian

children in Head Start using the PBS Between the Lions literacy series that has been adapted spe-

cifically for American Indian communities, and that research indicates has improved emergent

literacy and reading skills of preschool children. IAD indicates that approximately 400 children

and 45 tribal Head Start classrooms are involved in the initiative in 12 tribal communities. Fur-

ther, that the appropriation – as endorsed by the All Indian Pueblo Council and the president of

the Mescalero Apache Nation – would support and expand the American Indian head start liter-

acy initiative to include the UNM College of Education, KNME-TV’s Education Department,

and other Native American academic entities.

PED observes that while curricula developed specifically for Indian students must go through

tribal notification, review and approval per New Mexico’s Indian Education Act of 2003 – and

that current Indian Head Start programs follow national standards for curricula and program

planning, development, implementation and evaluation – the bill could contribute to the imple-

mentation of culturally relevant curricula in Indian Head Start programs.

CHE indicates that this request was not in the list of priority projects submitted by the University

of New Mexico to the commission for review. Accordingly, the request was not included in the

commission’s funding recommendation for FY06.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

IAD observes that the American Indian head start literacy initiative will help the state meet the

mission and goals of the Indian Education Act. Research and findings from this initiative may

also assist the state’s multicultural bilingual programs develop culturally relevant American In-

dian preschool curriculum that foster English literacy, while supporting the maintenance and de-

velopment of Native languages.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $193,652 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The University of New Mexico will retain oversight of this program.

House Bill 397 -- Page 3

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to the appropriation for the University of New Mexico in the General Appropriations

Act.

Relates to HB337 and SB360 in that both HB337 and SB360 contemplate a pre-Kindergarten

funding initiative that could influence the state’s various Head Start programs.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

As general information, DCA offers the following observations:

•

In January 2004, KNME-TV received a federal grant for an American Indian Head Start

Literacy Initiative that uses the Between the Lions television series along with related re-

sources adapted specifically for a variety of American Indian communities. Senator Pete

Domenici was the key sponsor for the federal appropriation that ends on July 15, 2005.

•

This bill will enable KNME-TV to continue last year’s project that included a research

study on the effectiveness of the program and created measures of early literacy that are

culturally appropriate. Plans for this year’s program are to align the content of the pre-

literacy curriculum with the federal Indian Education Act by working with faculty of the

University of New Mexico’s Native American Studies department and with other educa-

tional institutions such as the American Indian Institute in Albuquerque.

•

KNME-TV has expanded beyond television on-air services to Internet on-line and face-

to-face community-based educational outreach. Staff at KNME-TV will provide profes-

sional development for teachers in the use of emergent literacy curriculum and will work

to expand the Head Start domains of healthy physical activity and learning through play

to creating new language content that reaches Pueblo, Navajo and Apache children

throughout New Mexico. The Native American liaison with the New Mexico Children,

Youth and Families Department, will continue to play a role in contacting Native com-

munities and encouraging this bi-lingual approach to learning language and preparing to

read in the pre-school years.

BFW/sb