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

SPONSOR Tsosie

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/2/2006

HB

SHORT TITLE

Jemez Valley Schools Literacy Coach

SB 536

ANALYST McOlash

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$70.0

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 536 appropriates $70,000 from the General Fund to the Public Education Department

(PED) for expenditure in FY 2007 to provide the salary and benefits for a literacy coach in the

Jemez Valley Public Schools. The literacy coach shall provide ongoing support to teachers in

the classroom and ensure implementation of best practice literacy strategies for how children

learn and how teachers can help Native American children succeed

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $70,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund. .

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end FY 2007 shall revert to the

General Fund.

Senate Bill 536 - Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

After years of disappointing results from conventional professional development efforts and un-

der ever-increasing accountability pressures, many districts are now hiring coaches to improve

their schools. These coaches strive to improve morale and achievement -- and raise scores -- by

showing teachers how and why certain strategies will make a difference for their students.

The professional development strategy known as school-based coaching generally involves ex-

perts in a particular subject area or set of teaching strategies working closely with small groups

of teachers to improve classroom practice and, ultimately, student achievement. In some cases,

coaches work full-time at an individual school or district; in others, they work with a variety of

schools throughout the year. Most are former classroom teachers, and some keep part-time class-

room duties while they coach. (Russo, A. Harvard Education Letter, July/August 2004)

Literacy coaching is a professional development “delivery mechanism” recommended by the

U.S. Department of Education (Guide to Reading First Programs, 2002).

ALTERNATIVES

The Public School Finance Act (Chapter 22, Article 8 NMSA 1978) specifies (22-8-18, B):

It is the responsibility of the local school board to

determine its priorities in terms of the needs of the

community served by the board. Funds generated

under the Public School Finance Act are discretionary

to local school boards, provided that the special program

needs as enumerated in this section are met.

The Public School Funding Formula distributes funds to the 89 school districts. It is the district

responsibility to establish priorities. The PED presents a convincing argument on the value of

literary coaches. Although school districts have trouble meeting all the state requirements with

present resources, there is nothing preventing them from the hiring of literacy coaches as a prior-

ity.

BMC/mt