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

SPONSOR Stapleton

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/06/08

HB 610

SHORT TITLE Albuquerque School Black Student Groups

SB

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$10.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 610 appropriates $10.0 in FY 2009 to the Public Education Department (PED) to

increase access for students in black student organizations in the Albuquerque public school

district to programs that improve test scores, study skills, graduation rates and post-secondary

success.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $10.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to the general

fund.

If funded, the PED would be responsible for providing funding to the district and monitoring the

programs, including the development of the application and reporting forms. This process would

take approximately 40 hours of an Education Administrator-A’s time @ $25.50 per hour plus

30% benefits (1.3 x $25.50 x 40 = 1.3 total cost).

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to PED, this bill is intended to target Albuquerque Public Schools’ (APS) middle and

House Bill 610 – Page

2

high school students who are in black student organizations (Black Student Unions, BSU).

Black student organizations serve blacks and other minorities who are struggling in school. The

programs used by the BSUs would provide tutoring, college application skills, leadership

training and a whole menu of topics that could be used individually or by a group. By following

the NM Content Standards for Career Readiness and English Language Development, along with

other Content Standards, BSUs could assist black students by having them:

•

Utilize and manage resources effectively to produce quality services and products;

•

Develop and demonstrate responsible and ethical workplace behaviors;

•

Develop effective leadership, interpersonal, and team skills;

•

Apply strategies and skills to comprehend information that is read, heard, or viewed; and

•

Communicate effectively through speaking and writing.

BSUs are housed within the school buildings and may use school equipment and have a faculty

member assigned to be responsible for the group.

PED’s Student Teacher Accountability Reporting System (STARS) shows that at the 120

th

-day

reporting period during the 2006-2007 school year there were over 30,000 minority students

(excluding “Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic origin") enrolled in the middle and high schools

within the Albuquerque Public Schools. Of APS’ 26 middle schools and 11 high schools, only

5% achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

If enacted, this bill would support the PED’s Standards of Excellence. As the bill states, the

goals would be to improve test scores, study skills, graduation rates and postsecondary success.

Specific public school support performance measures addressed are the following: Percent of

middle school students who achieve the No child Left Behind Act annual measurable objectives

for proficiency or above on standards-based assessments in reading and language arts and math,

percent of recent New Mexico high school graduates who take remedial courses in higher

education at two-year and four-year schools and annual cohort graduation rate for school year

2004-2005 9

th

graders.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

If HB 610 is enacted, PED oversight responsibilities would include seeing that the funds were

properly accounted for and expended in accordance with legislative intent. PED would need to

designate staff to manage the procurement process, and develop and monitor a reporting system

that adheres to set standards and goals.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to HB 446, which would appropriate $25.0 for the African American performing arts

center and exhibit hall to provide after-school, weekend and summer programs and web-based

resources to improve math, science and literacy skills for K-12 students

.

PME/jp