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

SPONSOR Sandoval

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/29/08 HB 450

SHORT TITLE NM Tech Science and Math Career Prep

SB

ANALYST Cox

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Higher Education (HED)

Department of Public Education (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 450 appropriates two hundred thousand dollars($200,0000 from the General Fund to

the Board of Regents of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech) for

expenditure in FY09 for the following purposes:

•

$100,000 for expenses related to enrolling seven public school teachers who teach

mathematics and science in a twenty-month Masters of Science teaching program;

and

•

$100,000 for data research and analysis of students who have participated in

programs that prepared them for careers in mathematics, engineering and the

sciences.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) contained in this bill is a

recurring expense to the General Fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at

the end of Fiscal Year 2009 shall revert to the General Fund.

House Bill 450 – Page

2

This request was not submitted by NM Tech to the New Mexico Higher Education Department

for review and is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY09.

The HED’s evaluation table of FY09 Research and Public Service Projects provided to the LFC

classifies this project as a “supports state priorities" project. Reasons for this classification

decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education Department Review of

Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table 4, p73.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HED states:

House Bill would establish a scholarship program targeting New Mexico’s public school

teachers who are teaching math and science. NM Tech offers a Master of Science Teaching

program that addresses a critical educational need of science and mathematics teachers in New

Mexico by making standards-based mathematic instruction accessible to teachers and

subsequently their students.

PED notes:

The Master of Science for Teachers program has experienced significant growth in the last several

years. It currently has 125 actively enrolled teachers.

PRC/bb