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).

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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 Stewart

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/1/06

2/13/06 HB 225/aHEC/aHAFC

SHORT TITLE Fund for Scientific Reading Materials

SB

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to House Joint Memorial 18

Relates to an appropriation in the General Appropriations Act.

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY06

FY07

FY08 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$19.4

$19.4

$19.4

$58.2 Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

The House Appropriations and Finance Committee amendment to House Bill 225 removes all

appropriations in the bill.

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amendment to House Bill 225 makes technical changes to lan-

House Bill 225/aHEC/aHAFC– Page 2

guage regarding reading program selection.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 225 appropriates $5 million from the general fund to the public education department

for the purpose of assisting districts desiring to change reading programs from the current adop-

tion.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $5 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert

to the general fund.

This bill creates a new fund and provides for continuing appropriations. The LFC has concerns

with including continuing appropriation language in the statutory provisions for newly created

funds, as earmarking reduces the ability of the legislature to establish spending priorities.

The department notes administering this program will require some additional staff time and

perhaps resources. LFC estimates this need at approximately $19.4 thousand annually.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The bill provides for a school district to apply for funding if:

•

Core and supplemental materials are highly rated by either the Oregon reading first center

or the Florida Center for Reading Research or the materials are listed in the international

dyslexia association’s framework for informed reading and language instruction,

•

The district has selected no more than two comprehensive published core reading pro-

grams and

•

The district has established a professional development plan describing how it will pro-

vide teachers with professional development and ongoing support in the effective use of

the selected instructional materials.

PED notes the Oregon reading first center (Western Region Reading First Technical Assistance

Center) and the Florida Center for Reading Research have reviewed core and supplemental read-

ing materials written in English. Core and supplemental reading materials written in Spanish

have not yet been reviewed by either center.

The department further notes, core and supplemental reading materials reviewed by these techni-

cal assistance centers have been for grades kindergarten through and including third grade only.

Reviews of core and supplemental reading materials for grades four through 12 do not exist to

date.

The Office of Educational Accountability reports that the International Reading Association

takes a different view regarding effective reading programs. IRA advocates early reading in-

struction meet individual needs of children. As reading research evolves, other critical elements

of reading instruction may emerge. By requiring that in order to access funds, districts use inter-

ventions and supplemental programs that have been rated by organizations that espouse the Na-

House Bill 225/aHEC/aHAFC– Page 3

tional Reading Panel framework, HB 225 may end up limiting districts in the program choices

they have as research continues to emerge. Instead of requiring that programs be highly rated by

specific organizations, it might be more advantageous to instead require that the programs be

based on the most current national reading research.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Oregon Reading First Center provides a comprehensive list of Kindergarten though third

grade reading materials that are organized around the five essential components of reading: pho-

nemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

The Florida Center for Reading Research prepares reports in response to requests from Florida

school districts for review of specific reading programs. These reports are a source of informa-

tion about materials that can be used by teachers to provide instruction. In addition to describing

programs and their use, these reports provide information on the extent to which their content,

organization, and instructional strategies are consistent with scientifically based research in read-

ing. The Florida Center provides guidelines for schools and districts for reviewing reading pro-

grams; however, the center does not provide a list of recommended reading programs.

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an educational organization dedicated to the

study and treatment of dyslexia. IDA focuses its resources in four major areas: information and

referral services, research, advocacy and direct services to professionals in the field of learning

disabilities. This association provides publications regarding multi-sensory teaching, basic lan-

guage skills, and multiple mediums in reading.

Two of these organizations—Oregon Reading First Center and the Florida Center for Reading

Research are closely tied to the Federal Reading First program. Reading First, the No Child Left

Behind initiative, is intended to improve reading instruction in the primary grades.

Reading First bases its definition of “scientific-research” on the 2000 National Reading Panel

(NRP) Report, which defined the five key instructional factors for reading research as phonemic

awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

ALTERNATIVES

The Office of Educational Accountability proposes for legislative consideration the following

amendment:

Page 2, Line 13 Strike highly

Page 2 Strike Lines 14 through 17 and insert thereof “based on the most current national reading

research.

PA/nt