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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

1/29/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE Science Education and Teacher Outreach Program SB 29

ANALYST Schuss

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$300.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB111

Relates to SB24 and HB109

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Higher education Department (HED)

NMSU Biology Department (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 29 appropriates $300,000 from the General Fund to the board of regents of New

Mexico State University to pay for a science education enhancement and kindergarten through

grade twelve teacher outreach program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $300,000 contained in this bill is recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

General Fund.

This proposal was submitted to the New Mexico Higher Education Department by New Mexico

Senate Bill 29 – Page

2

State University and was not included in the departments funding recommendations for FY07.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to NMSU, this bill would provide matching money for a grant from the Howard

Hughes Medical Institute intended to improve science education at NMSU and throughout the

State of New Mexico. The program includes an undergraduate research scholar’s program and

biology laboratory that will travel to rural high schools. This appropriation would 1) fund a two

day refresher course for teachers in the fields of biology, geology, astronomy, physics and

chemistry; 2) fund two week courses for teachers working on a Masters of Arts degree in

teaching science; 3) provide salaries for peer leaders who assist in teaching introductory biology

classes at NMSU; and 4) partially support the salary for the administrator of the program.

NMSU adds that the grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will further improve the

readiness of entering students and the quality of the undergraduate science program at NMSU by

establishing several programs that enhance teacher training in the sciences, by revamping the

undergraduate curriculum in the biological sciences at NMSU, and by establishing an

undergraduate research scholars program. However, the 1.5 million dollar grant from the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute will not adequately fund all of these programs; state support is

necessary for full implementation of the teacher training programs.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The PED notes that the activities that would be funded by this legislation are in alignment with

recommendations in Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Executive Summary to “Strengthen the

skills of 250,000 teachers through training and education programs…" (Action A-2) and

“Enlarge the pipeline of students who are prepared to enter college and graduate with a degree in

science, engineering, or mathematics…" (Action A-3) [National Academy of Sciences, 2006].

There is a need to improve students’ achievement in science and preparation for higher

education. The percentage of New Mexico students scoring at or above the Proficiency level in

science on the 2006 Standards-Based Assessment decreased from a high of 77.3% in 3rd grade to

a low of 22.8% in 8th grade and rebounded slightly to 34.8% in 9

th

grade. The state ranks 43

rd

out of 50 states in the academic readiness of its high school graduates for higher education and

has a reported graduation rate of 56.7%.

More than 100 teachers will enter the MAT in Science program according to NMSU. Another

20 teachers a year will take a refresher course. High schools in every region of the state will be

visited by the traveling molecular biology laboratory. As a result of these programs, we expect

to see measurable improvements in scientific literacy among students trained in the educational

system of New Mexico.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The HED states that the MAT in science is a new degree program on the NMSU campus as are

the immersion courses for teachers. These programs will be located in the teacher training

programs of the College of Education. All new Masters programs are subject to HED review.

Senate Bill 29 – Page

3

DUPLICATION, RELATIONSHIP

Duplicates HB111. Relates to SB24 and HB109 which appropriate $500,000 to NMSU to pay for

the coordination and expansion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational

outreach programs.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

NMSU would absorb the additional costs of the programs not covered by the Howard Hughes

grant.

BS/nt