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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Rodriguez
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/2/2006
HB
SHORT TITLE Santa Fe Schools Bilingual Curriculum
SB 503
ANALYST McOlash
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$200.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Public Education Department (PED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 503 appropriates $200,000 from the General Fund to PED for expenditure in FY
2007 to develop an appropriate bilingual curriculum, that meet the individual needs of English
language learner students, in the Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) and a related intensive profes-
sional development program.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund. .
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2007 shall revert to the
General Fund.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The Public Education Department analysis includes the following:
pg_0002
Senate Bill 503 - Page 2
•
The Bilingual Education Law of 2004 (Article 23) requires all districts implementing Bilingual
Education programs to develop a standardized curriculum, including instructional materials
with scope and sequence and to provide professional development to all personnel.
•
State funding for implementing Bilingual Education programs for 2005-2006 amounts to $34.8
million. Santa Fe schools (Including charter schools) receive $2.0 million for their State Bilin-
gual Programs.
•
Fifty-six districts receive federal funding from the Title III English Language Acquisition pro-
grams. Federal funding totals $4.5 million in FY 2006. SFPS receives $211,000 for Title III.
•
According to the Accountability Data System (ADS) 40
th
-Day Report of 2005-2006:
o
There are 61,407 students in grades K-12 participating in the State Bilingual Education
programs.
o
From the 65,124 (19.84% of the total student population) English Language Learner
(ELL) students in the New Mexico public school system, 18.6% participate in the State
Bilingual Education programs.
o
There are 4,158 students (30% of the student population) in SFPS participating in the
State Bilingual Education programs.
o
There are 4,639 English Language Learners in SFPS. From the total ELL student popu-
lation in this district, 87% participate in the State Bilingual Education programs.
o
SFPS has 79 highly qualified Bilingual Education teachers.
o
SFPS has 11 highly qualified TESOL teachers.
•
PED’s Bilingual Multicultural Education Bureau, through the Focused Monitoring/Technical
Assistance process, has required the SFPS to develop a “scope and sequence curriculum plan
for home languages and English as a Second Language,” (Focused Monitoring Report, February
22-24, 2005).
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The PED Bilingual Multicultural Education Bureau is responsible for approving, monitoring, and
assuring the quality of these programs. The motivation for this bill may relate to the idea of an
“appropriate” bilingual curriculum. If the district has not implemented an “appropriate” curricu-
lum, however that should be defined, PED has the responsibility to make sure SFPS is in compli-
ance.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
The district will need to allocate state and federal program funding to meet the statutory re-
quirements.
BMC/yr