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committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

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

SPONSOR Altamirano

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

3-07-2007

3-14-2007 HB

SHORT TITLE Reinstate State Supervisor of Spanish

SJM 40/aSRC

ANALYST Dearing

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$77.2. $77.2.

$154.4 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SRC Amendment

The amendment proposed by the Senate Rules Committee changes the language of the original

Joint Memorial, and now reads:

That the Governor and the Public Education Department be requested to name the

Director of Bilingual Education or the Director’s designee as the State Supervisor of Spanish.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Joint Memorial 40 resolves to reinstate the position of New Mexico state supervisor of

Spanish.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Joint Memorial 40 carries no appropriation. If enacted, the PED estimates the legislation

would create $77.4 thousand additional annual budgetary impact to support the position.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

New Mexico has been a leader in the nation in recognizing the academic, economic and social

value of being bilingual. Since 1973, the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act has provided

Senate Joint Memorial 40/aSRC – Page

2

financial support for programs that allow students to become proficient in two languages,

English and a second language (one of which could be the Spanish language).

According to the historical records available from Bilingual Multicultural Education Bureau

(BMEB), the following initiatives were implemented since the inception the State Supervisor of

Spanish position up to 2007:

•

Senate Bill 129 of 1943 established a position of Supervisor of Spanish in the New

Mexico Department of Education to ensure the teaching of Spanish in the elementary

schools. From 1944 to 1963, it was mandatory to teach Spanish in the elementary grades

to all students.

•

In 1963, the law mandating the teaching of Spanish in the elementary schools was

repealed but a new emphasis in Bilingual Education was beginning to appear.

•

In September 8, 1967, the State Board of Education adopted a Policy Statement

endorsing Bilingual Education and establishing a division of Bilingual Education in the

State Department of Education.

•

After 1967 the previous positions were reclassified and expanded with emphasis in

Bilingual Multicultural Education, which included experts in Home Language (Spanish

and Native American), English and Media.

•

Since 1967 until current the time (2007), the structure of the BMEB has undergone

changes in the titles of the personnel. However, there is a requirement that the

educational consultants and the director be experts in Bilingual Multicultural Education

and proficient in English and Spanish or Native American Language.

PD/csd