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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

3/01/07

HB

SHORT TITLE

“Read to a Child Day"

SB SM 39

ANALYST

Wilson

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Response Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Memorial 39 states that November 1, 2007 will be declared “Read to a Child Day" and

that this day will become an annual celebration.

In addition, on November 1, 2007 every third-grader in New Mexico will be given a copy of

"Santero's Miracle" by Rudolfo Anaya.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no fiscal impact to the State as a result of the provisions of this memorial. Private funds

will be used to pay for the books and the distribution of the books to the approximately 26,000

third grade students.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

A team of fourth and fifth-grade students at La Union elementary school in the Gadsden

independent school district conducted a community literacy initiative and from what they

learned, they wanted to give every third-grade student in New Mexico a book.

Senate Memorial 39 – Page

2

This team of students began research on New Mexico authors, found over 40 authors, developed

a rating rubric and narrowed their list down to15.

The students contacted a group of adults who were representative of the state and invited them to

be part of a selection committee using their rubric to narrow the list of books to six.

The students invited the governor to make a final decision on a book, and he selected "Santero's

Miracle" by Rudolfo Anaya, with a copy to be given to each third-grade student.

The book will be accompanied by a web-based teacher curriculum and a hard copy of a parent

curriculum that will be tied to the New Mexico curriculum standards.

The governor selected November 1, 2007 to distribute the books to every third-grade student.

November 1 marks national family literacy day and approximately 80,000 literacy programs will

hold readings, workshops and family activities across the country.

Reading aloud is a time-honored tradition for parents, caregivers and children, especially in a

child’s formative years.

Reading has a lifelong impact on a child's learning experiences, developmental progress and

even social interaction.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Senate Memorial 39 recognizes and promotes the importance of literacy at early childhood. Oral

reading from teachers, parents or even peers has a positive impact on word recognition, fluency

and comprehension. Stories have been shared as a means of preservation of history, culture and

traditions and also have been used to teach, explain or to entertain. By listening to good models

of fluent reading, students learn how a reader’s voice can increase their knowledge of the world,

their vocabulary, their familiarity with written language and their interest in reading.

DW/mt