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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

2/24/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Read to a Child Day

SM 40

ANALYST Leger

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Memorial 40 declares November 1, 2007 as “Read to a Child Day".

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to PED, Senate Memorial 40 recognizes and promotes the importance of literacy at

early childhood. Oral reading from teachers or parents or even peers has a positive impact on

word recognition, fluency and comprehension.

Senate Memorial states that:

•

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 wanted to give

every third-grade student in New Mexico a book based on what they learned;

•

This team of students began research on New Mexico authors, identified over forty

authors, developed a rating rubric and narrowed their list down to fifteen;

•

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

Senate Memorial 40 – Page

2

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

six;

•

The governor was asked to make the final decision on a book and selected "Santero's

Miracle" by Rudolfo Anaya. Each third-grade student will receive a copy.

•

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, which marks National Family Literacy Day; and

•

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

lifelong impact on a child's learning experiences, developmental progress and even social

interaction;

•

House Memorial 34 requests that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the Secretary

of Public Education and the governor.

PED indicates, November 1, 2007 has been declared National Family Literacy Day by the

National Center for Family Literacy. Across the country, special activities and events will

showcase the importance of family literacy programs.

JL/mt