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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Nava
DATE TYPED 2/22/05 HB
SHORT TITLE Bilingual Multicultural Education Units
SB 561
ANALYST Chabot
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY05
FY06
FY05
FY06
$21,157.0
Recurring General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to SB 125
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
Public Education Department (PED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 561 appropriates $21,157,000 million from the general fund to the state equalization
guarantee for public schools and amends the Public School Finance Act to change the cost dif-
ferential for units earned for the bilingual multicultural education program from 0.5 to 0.8 effec-
tive July 1, 2005.
Significant Issues
PED assess the following:
•
New Mexico has been a leader in the nation in providing funds to serve the needs of stu-
dents with a home language other than English. Since 1973, the Bilingual Multicultural
Education Act has provided financial support for programs that allow students at New
Mexico public schools to become proficient in two languages, English and a second lan-
guage (one of which is Spanish), and to succeed academically.