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A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND THE OFFICE OF

EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY TO EXAMINE ISSUES RELATED TO

TURNOVER AND EMERGENCIES RESULTING FROM PREDICTED SHORTAGES

OF SCHOOL COUNSELORS, NURSES AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL

INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS

AND CHARTER SCHOOLS.

WHEREAS, school counselors, nurses and other

professional instructional support personnel are essential to

children's learning in New Mexico schools; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico schools must recruit and retain

qualified school counselors, nurses and other professional

instructional support personnel to cope more adequately with

the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001;

and

WHEREAS, school counselors play a critical role in

helping students focus on academic, personal, social and

career development, particularly through the next-step

planning process, so that students may achieve success in

school and be prepared to lead fulfilling lives as

responsible members of society; and

WHEREAS, nationally, forty-six percent of the nursing

workforce is over fifty years of age; and

WHEREAS, the federal health resources and services

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administration predicts that New Mexico will be able to meet

only sixty-four percent of the state's demand for nurses in

all capacities by 2020; and

WHEREAS, school counselors, nurses and other

professional instructional support personnel in New Mexico

school districts currently average more than fourteen years

of experience; and

WHEREAS, school districts have a difficult time

attracting and retaining qualified school counselors, nurses

and other professional instructional support personnel due to

competition for their services from the private sector; and

WHEREAS, many school counselors, nurses and other

professional instructional support personnel can choose

employment in a variety of settings other than public

schools, such as hospitals, pediatric clinics, rehabilitation

facilities, mental health centers and nursing homes;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public education department and

the office of education accountability be requested to

examine issues related to turnover and emergencies resulting

from predicted shortages of school counselors, nurses and

other professional instructional support personnel in public

school districts and charter schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department and the

office report their findings and recommendations, if any, to

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the legislative education study committee prior to the first

session of the forty-ninth legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the secretary of public education, the

director of the office of education accountability and the

secretary of finance and administration.