SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 60

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald P. Ortiz y Pino

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO DISCUSS RE-CREATING THE POSITION OF STATE SUPERVISOR OF SPANISH TO PROTECT NEW MEXICO'S UNIQUE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR PRESERVATION OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE.

     WHEREAS, the constitution of New Mexico protects the Spanish language as part of its recognition that the state was a Spanish-speaking region prior to statehood; and

     WHEREAS, in the period from 1846 to 1848, some sixty thousand Spanish speakers lived in New Mexico as Mexico ceded lands to the United States following the Spanish-American war; and

     WHEREAS, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in February 1848, granted United States citizenship to all Mexican nationals who remained in the ceded territory, although only approximately two thousand Mexican nationals remained; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico was approximately fifty percent Spanish-speaking during the territorial era, beginning in 1850; and

     WHEREAS, one of the major reasons that Arizona and New Mexico did not join the union as a unified state, though they were both part of the New Mexico territory, was because of conflicts over proper recognition of the importance of preserving and teaching the Spanish language; and

     WHEREAS, Spanish speakers at the time of statehood would not sacrifice their right to serve on juries in exchange for statehood; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico joined the union with two official languages: Spanish and English; and

     WHEREAS, in 1925, New Mexico law required every high school with fifty or more pupils to employ a teacher qualified to teach both Spanish and English, but the state repealed that law in 1962; and

     WHEREAS, in 1943, the position of "state supervisor of Spanish" was created "to bring about an improvement in the teaching of Spanish in the schools ... in order to insure the retainment and the development of the Spanish language, with a view of future inter-American relations", but the state repealed the law creating that position in 1967; and

     WHEREAS, the importance of New Mexico's bilingual tradition only increases with increased trade and exchanges with Mexico and South America; and

     WHEREAS, the importance of being bilingual only increases for both native Spanish and native English speakers as more opportunities for international contact occur;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the secretary of public education be requested to name and convene a working group, to include teachers, scholars and activists knowledgeable about uses for Spanish-speaking skills, for the purpose of setting goals for educational attainment in the area of Spanish-language teaching; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the ultimate aim of the working group be to consider the merits of re-creating the state supervisor of Spanish position within the public education department; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group report its findings and recommendations to the legislative education study committee by November 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public education.

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