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

SPONSOR Beffort

DATE TYPED 2/3/05

HB

SHORT TITLE Require Honors Classes in Certain Schools

SB 69/aSEC

ANALYST Segura

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

N/A

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

New Mexico Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

The Senate Education Committee amendment deletes the body of the bill, all references to grade

six and adds language that:

“Beginning with the 2006 – 2007 school year, each school district shall offer at least on honors

or similar academically rigorous class each in mathematics and language arts in each high

school.” The bill’s title is changed to match the language in the bill.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 69 amends Section 22-1-4 NMSA 1978 that would require each school district to of-

fer at least one honors class in all grades beginning with grade six. The bill does not contain an

appropriation.

Significant Issues

Senate Bill 69 places students who qualify for and want to attend an honors class as a fourth pri-

ority for enrollment of students in schools.

Senate Bill 69/aSEC -- Page 2

According to PED, currently, determination of curricula is the purview of the local school dis-

trict, with the provision that curricula align with New Mexico Standards, Benchmarks and Per-

formance Standards.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Bill 69 does not contain an appropriation.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

PED indicates that if Senate Bill 69 is enacted, staff would need to develop the definition of

“honors” class and then ensure that appropriate honors course descriptions were written and in

place within the Accountability Data System.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

According to PED, Senate Bill 69 does not include a definition or description of an “honors”

class.

RS/lg:yr