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 a vailable 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 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 Beffort

DATE TYPED 2/21/05

HB

SHORT TITLE Require School Use of Standard Grading System

SB 70/aSEC/aSFL#1

ANALYST Chabot

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

See Narrative

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SFL Amendment 1

Senate Floor Amendment 1 adds the following to the bill: Nothing in this bill prohibits

“weighted” credits for honors and advanced placement.

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

Senate Education Amendment 1 changes “standard” to “standardized” in three places in the bill.

According to PED, this will require public school districts to use either an alphabetic or numeric

grading system based upon the 4.0 or one hundred percent scale but require the same grading

criteria throughout the state. This will remove PED’s concern about establishing a statewide cri-

teria and the corresponding cost originally submitted.

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 70 enacts a new section of the public school code requiring PED adopt a standardized

alphabetic or numeric grading system based upon the 4.0 or one hundred percent scale to be used

by all public schools in the state.

Senate Bill 70/aSEC/aSFL#1 -- Page 2

Significant Issues

PED identifies the following issues:

1.

Grading is a responsibility of local school boards. This bill would take away that local

board authority.

2.

PED establishes content standards, benchmarks and performance standards for each dis-

trict. A meaningful uniform statewide grading system would accurately report student at-

tainment of standards. And,

3.

Adopting either an alphabetic or numeric grading system requires developing comparable

measures at each grade level, for each subject, if grades are to represent the same level of

student attainment across the state.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

PED estimates that it would cost approximately $971 thousand to develop a statewide grading

system. It states “such efforts are complex, labor intensive and expensive.” For example, the

standards based assessment is a multi-year effort to develop rubrics for science standards and has

an estimated cost of $1.8 million. The agency states neither it nor the school districts can absorb

the cost of such an effort.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

PED will have to establish by regulation a standardized grading system and change administra-

tive rules accordingly, especially “Standards for Excellence.”

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL.

Districts will continue to develop grading systems.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

Should a new statute be made because one district is changing its grading system.

2.

Is the intent to have a standardized grading nomenclature or to have standardized grading

criteria.

GAC/yr