SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 23

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Cynthia Nava

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STATEWIDE TASK FORCE TO ASSESS AND ELIMINATE THE BARRIERS THAT PREGNANT AND PARENTING TEENS FACE IN COMPLETING THEIR EDUCATIONS.

     WHEREAS, the legislature seeks to ensure that all New Mexico students have access to a quality education; and

     WHEREAS, the public education department seeks to increase graduation rates for New Mexico students; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has the second highest rate in the nation of children born to teen parents; and

     WHEREAS, forty-three percent of teen mothers nationwide who gave birth under the age of eighteen failed to earn either a high school diploma or a general education development certificate by the age of twenty-two as compared to only six percent of teenage girls who did not have a child; and

     WHEREAS, only thirty-eight percent of teen mothers nationwide who gave birth under the age of eighteen earned a high school diploma by age twenty-two as compared to eighty-nine percent of teenage girls who did not have a child; and

     WHEREAS, the 2009 median household income in New Mexico was forty-two thousand eight hundred thirty dollars ($42,830), but the average income of high school dropouts was only eleven thousand four hundred twenty-six dollars ($11,426); and

     WHEREAS, teen parents will have higher earning potential, better career opportunities and less need for government aid during their lives if they are able to graduate from high school; and

     WHEREAS, the children of teen parents will grow up in households with higher income and greater stability if their parents become high school graduates; and

     WHEREAS, pregnant and parenting teens struggle to remain in school due to narrowly interpreted school attendance policies and the inability to make up missed school work;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public education department be requested to create a task force to study the obstacles faced by teen parents in completing their educations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be composed of experts in the fields of education, teen pregnancy, teen parenting, law, statistics and social services, including representatives from the public education department, the New Mexico GRADS program, New futures school, the Santa Fe teen parent center, at least three different school districts from different regions in New Mexico, the epidemiology and response division of the department of health, the American civil liberties union of New Mexico, young women united and the southwest women's law center; and     

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force issue a comprehensive report regarding these obstacles and make recommendations on how to eliminate these obstacles and increase the number of pregnant and parenting teens who graduate from high school; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report include specific short-term and long-term goals to eliminate the barriers faced by pregnant and parenting teens in completing their educations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report by November 1, 2012 to the secretary of public education, appropriate legislative interim committees and all school districts and charter schools in the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the public education department for appropriate distribution.

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