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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

1/28/08

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM Family Development Program

SB 142

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$455.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

University of New Mexico (UNM)

Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 142 appropriates $455.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico for the Family Development Program in the College of Education.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $455.0 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.

The HED states that a request for this program to increase the base by an additional $481,937 for

a total amount of $1,346,137 was submitted by UNM to the New Mexico Higher Education

Department for review. The Department’s funding recommendation for FY09 is a continuance

of FY08 recurring funding in the amount of $864,200 with no additional funding at this time.

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

classifies this project as a “would not oppose if funding available" project. Reasons for this

Senate Bill 142 – Page

2

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, p76.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

UNM states:

•

The mission of the Family Development Program (FDP) is to strengthen early childhood

education through strong partnerships between families and teachers so that children

thrive.

•

FDP provides statewide professional development to New Mexico’s rural and urban

communities through yearlong training that is co-designed with partners to meet their

unique needs within local community sites. With FDP’s base budget secured through

new legislative support in FY07, FDP is now in a position to revitalize its innovative

WeMagination Center (WE) as a comprehensive educational resource for New Mexico.

The WE expansion project will add value to FDP’s program outreach by developing

strong teams of teachers and parents working together with shared understanding of how

children’s curiosity and critical thinking are core principles of engaged learning.

Through the use of high quality, recycled materials, teachers and parents deepen their

understanding of how young children learn when they have time for open-ended play.

When children are engaged in play -- building skills of exploration, experimentation,

hypothesis-making, and problem-solving -- young children are thinking like scientists.

WE training broadens teachers’ and parents’ awareness of how to support these

experiences as foundational for early learning in core academic competencies, e.g., in

math, science and early literacy, as well as social and emotional development.

•

The objectives for the program are to:

o

Partner with the New Mexico PTA and other parent groups to provide training

workshops for collaborative teams of teachers and parents working together to learn

more about children’s learning.

o

Develop a professional-quality Volunteer Outreach Program to serve schools and

programs throughout the greater Albuquerque area so that FDP can continue to

deepen our statewide outreach.

o

Coordinate a statewide Play With Me Learning Campaign to distribute educational

materials and practical support to parents for simple ways to turn everyday

experiences into teachable moments.

o

Provide high quality recycled materials to support teachers who need good

educational materials.

o

Engage new business partners in New Mexico and nationally to support New

Mexico’s educators through regular donations of high quality recycled materials.

o

Coordinate a comprehensive external evaluation to document program outcomes as

accountability for FDP’s private, corporate and legislative support.

The HED states that as a community-based outreach program of UNM, the FDP provides a

distinct service to both rural and urban communities throughout the state. FDP staff work closely

with leaders from other state agencies, organizations, programs and institutions to assure that

opportunities for training are offered.

Senate Bill 142 – Page

3

The CYFD notes that CYFD has performance measures related to early childhood development.

This bill is consistent with those performance measures, and with the Governor’s Policy

Initiative Healthy New Mexico Task 2.6: Improve Access and Quality of Child Care.

GH/mt