SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 26

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Sue Wilson Beffort

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STUDY ON THE USE OF STATE EQUALIZATION GUARANTEE FUNDS TO EDUCATE ADULT STUDENTS IN CERTAIN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico statutes define a "school-age person" as one who has reached the age of five years and who has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent; and

     WHEREAS, statute sets a maximum age of twenty-one only for a student who is classified as a special education student in Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico statutes, however, do not set a maximum age for a "school-age person" who is not classified as a special education student; and

     WHEREAS, as a result, any person over the age of five who does not have a high school diploma or its equivalent and is not classified as a special education student is eligible to be a fully funded student in any New Mexico public school; and

     WHEREAS, the Public School Finance Act, enacted in 1974, bases student funding on multiple factors, including the grade and age of a student, a student's verified special needs or accommodations, the training and experience of the student's teacher and the size and location of the student's school; and

     WHEREAS, historical records indicate that all of these factors were established to address the needs of students who are, generally speaking, between the ages of five and twenty-one; and

     WHEREAS, since passage of the Charter Schools Act in 1999, state and local school districts have authorized nearly one hundred charter schools, which are public schools that offer a wide range of choices for students and their families; and

     WHEREAS, some charter schools — approximately twelve percent, according to public education department data — have a stated mission to serve target populations of students that are in need of specialized services, many of whom are students without a high school diploma or its equivalent and who are over the age of twenty-one; and

     WHEREAS, several school districts and charter schools enroll students over the age of twenty-three; and

     WHEREAS, according to a 2014 legislative finance committee report, in fiscal year 2013, one thousand one hundred twenty-five adults between the ages of twenty-three and ninety were enrolled in New Mexico public schools; and

     WHEREAS, thirty percent of those students are between the ages of thirty-one and forty; and

     WHEREAS, figures for funding students in public schools indicate that the average amount funded per student is seven thousand six hundred sixty-seven dollars ($7,667); and

     WHEREAS, to address the educational needs of those New Mexicans who are beyond the age of twenty-one and who have not earned a high school diploma or its equivalent, the legislature established and annually funds an adult basic education program; and

     WHEREAS, the current adult basic education programs spread resources thinly among many students; and

     WHEREAS, in fiscal year 2013, a total of eight million eight hundred thousand dollars ($8,800,000) in federal and state funds was allocated to twenty-six adult basic education providers to serve nineteen thousand students, reflecting an average allocation of four hundred fifty-three dollars ($453) per student; and

     WHEREAS, public schools educating adult students over the age of twenty-two spent more to educate one thousand adult students than the adult basic education system spent to educate more than nineteen thousand students in fiscal year 2013; and

     WHEREAS, the sufficiency of appropriations to the public school funding formula is currently being examined as part of a lawsuit that alleges the state is not meeting constitutional requirements for establishment and maintenance of "a uniform system of free public schools sufficient for the education of, and open to, all the children of school age in the state", as stated in Article 12, Section 1 of the constitution of New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee, working with the legislative finance committee, the higher education department and the public education department, establish a work group to study the feasibility of amending statutes to clarify the definition of a "school-age person" and the effect of that clarification on the public school funding formula unit value and to provide sufficient funding to support the adult basic education program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education study committee, in cooperation with the legislative finance committee, appoint members to the work group who represent the New Mexico coalition of charter schools, directors of various adult education associations and community-based adult organizations, the higher education and public education departments, the New Mexico coalition of school leaders and directors of institutional research at the university of New Mexico and two-year institutions; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that staff for the work group be provided by the legislative education study committee, the legislative finance committee, the higher education department and the public education department; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the results of the work group's study be presented to the legislative education study committee, the legislative finance committee and the governor prior to the start of the second session of the fifty-second legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the legislative education study committee, the director of the legislative finance committee, the secretary of higher education, the secretary of public education, the director of the New Mexico coalition of charter schools and the director of the New Mexico coalition of school leaders.

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