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

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/6/06

214/06 HB

SHORT TITLE Supplemental Services For Public Schools

SB 100/aSEC/aSPAC/aHEC

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

See Fiscal Implications

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Office of Educational Accountability (OEA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amendment makes technical language corrections by providing

that supplemental services will be provided to Title I eligible students.

Synopsis of SPAC Amendment

The Senate Public Affairs Committee amendment to Senate Bill 100 as amended strikes the re-

quirement that providers of supplemental services use only tutors with bachelor’s degrees and

instead provides for a sliding fee schedule based on the educational level of tutors.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

As noted below, high quality teachers have been found to improve student performance and

achievement. This amendment removes the requirement that tutors have bachelor’s degrees in

order to serve as tutors which may lower the quality of tutoring being received by students.

The sliding scale appears to provide for additional compensation for tutors with more advanced

degrees.

Senate Bill 100/aSEC/aSPAC/aHEC – Page

2

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

The Senate Education Committee amendment to Senate Bill 100 removes the requirement that

contractors providing supplemental services hire only licensed teachers as tutors, and provides

instead that tutors must have a bachelor’s degree to provide these services.

The amendment further changes the requirement that public schools failing to make adequate

yearly progress for three or more consecutive years provide supplemental services to Title I stu-

dents and will provide these services to eligible students.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The amendment refers to eligible students, however it does not specify what groups of students if

any are considered eligible.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 100 requires PED to adopt rules that require providers of supplemental educational

services (SES) approved for contracts in New Mexico to use only licensed teachers as tutors. It

also requires providers to use a common pre - and post-assessment instrument prescribed by the

PED to measure gains that students achieve through SES.

The bill also makes technical corrections to language.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

SB 100 carries no appropriation. According to PED and the US Department of Education, dis-

tricts have several options available to fund SES. These include funds from state, local or private

sources, as well as federal sources.

The Office of Educational Accountability notes that between federal FY 2003 and 2005, New

Mexico received nearly $315 million in Title I funds. NCLB requires that all states, including

New Mexico, spend a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 20 percent of its allocation on SES. For

the past three federal fiscal years, New Mexico has had, at minimum, approximately $15.7 mil-

lion available in federal Title I funds to support SES. According to the Supplemental Educa-

tional Services Quality Center (SESQC), a national oversight group that monitors SES issues,

there are 125 Title I Schools Identified for Improvement and there are 89 Title I schools that are

required to provide SES. The amount received per school district is determined by the US De-

partment of Education and is distributed by PED.

The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined; however, effects can be expected in two areas:

•

There is the potential for increased fees charged by providers of SES services in order to

offset costs associated with hiring certified staff, if they are not already doing so. Be-

cause the total dollar amount available per student is capped, any increased costs would

result in fewer tutoring sessions per student.

•

Costs associated with a common assessment could be met in a number of ways depending

on whether the assessment is a single statewide assessment or an assessment specific to

each district, such as a district short-cycle assessment that may already be in use.

Senate Bill 100/aSEC/aSPAC/aHEC – Page

3

Based on information from the PED website, during the 2005/2006 school year, fees for different

providers ranged from $18.00/hour (for a minimum of two hours) to $1,175.00 per student for an

entire school year. The local school district exercises the discretion as to how the funds are

spent.

According to PED, New Mexico currently has 27 approved SES vendors. Some vendors provide

statewide coverage and others focus on specific school districts or regions. In addition, these

vendors include both in-state and out-of-state businesses.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

High quality teachers have been found to improve student performance and achievement. The

requirement that tutors be licensed teachers may enhance student opportunities to improve profi-

ciency.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

It is unclear from the wording of the proposed amendment whether tutors would be required to

be licensed teachers in the State of New Mexico or whether, in the case of out-of-state providers,

that licensure in another state would be sufficient.

PED notes that Line 9 on page 4 makes reference to Title I students. As Section 22-2C-7 applies

to all public schools, including non-Title I schools, the department suggests for the Legislature to

consider removing this language.

PA/yr:mt:nt