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A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY TO ASSUME

THE PUBLICATION OF THE ANNUAL QUICK STATS PAMPHLET ABOUT

PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, the former state department of public education

instituted the annual publication of Quick Stats, a pamphlet

of facts about public education in New Mexico, including

statistics about revenue, schools and school districts, school

personnel, students, examination scores and graduation rates,

among other topics; and

WHEREAS, legislators, legislative staff, school

personnel and the general public found the pamphlet helpful

and timely; and

WHEREAS, the public education department, which

superseded the state department of public education, has

discontinued the publication of the pamphlet for a variety of

reasons, primarily issues related to data and formatting; and

WHEREAS, the 2003 legislature created the office of

education accountability to provide an independent evaluation

of the Assessment and Accountability Act and the School

Personnel Act; and

WHEREAS, the office of education accountability is also

charged with verifying the accuracy of reports of public

school, school district and state performance; and

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WHEREAS, the office of education accountability

identifies its mission as providing "an independent source of

information about the progress of education reform"; and

WHEREAS, information contained in the Quick Stats

pamphlet pertains to the duties assigned to and the mission

assumed by the office of education accountability;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the office of education

accountability, in collaboration with the public education

department, be requested to assume the annual publication of

the Quick Stats pamphlet, following in general the model

developed by the state department of public education as

continued by the public education department, adding

information about the number of schools meeting adequate

yearly progress or needing improvement and using the most

current data available prior to the legislative session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the office of education

accountability be requested to post the Quick Stats pamphlet

on the office's web site; to distribute a hard copy to each

member of the legislature, each staff member of each permanent

committee of the legislature and each school district

superintendent; and to maintain a supply of hard copies at the

office of education accountability; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the director of the office of education

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accountability and the secretary of public education for

appropriate distribution.