0001|                        HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 5
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0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                             LISA L. LUTZ
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|                                   
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0009|     
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0010|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE TO STUDY
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0012|     THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STATE LAWS ON SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND TO
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0013|     PREPARE A BILL FOR THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FORTY-FOURTH
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0014|     LEGISLATURE TO IMPROVE NEW MEXICO'S SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND
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0015|     GRADUATION RATES.
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0016|     
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0017|          WHEREAS, New Mexico is forty-seventh in per capita income
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0018|     among the fifty states; and
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0019|          WHEREAS, education and training are often cited as the

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0020|     most important criteria for attracting industry and
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0021|     stimulating the economy; and
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0022|          WHEREAS, statistics on school attendance and dropout
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0023|     rates in New Mexico are inexact and inconsistently collected
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0024|     and maintained, but, according to the best available national
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0025|     statistics, New Mexico has a dropout rate of eight and
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0001|     one-half percent annually, which is twice the national average
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0002|     according to some experts; and
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0003|          WHEREAS, some estimates indicate that between thirty and
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0004|     forty percent of high school freshmen drop out before
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0005|     graduation; and
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0006|          WHEREAS, many schools indicate that attendance in the
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0007|     classroom is very low relative to schools in other states; and
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0008|          WHEREAS, several school districts have addressed the
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0009|     dropout problem with alternative schools or alternative
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0010|     curricula; and
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0011|          WHEREAS, some states have enacted tougher compulsory
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0012|     attendance laws that may provide effective incentives for
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0013|     remaining in school;
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0014|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0015|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study
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0016|     committee be requested to study school attendance and to
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0017|     prepare legislation for the first session of the forty-fourth
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0018|     legislature to improve graduation and school attendance rates;
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0019|     and
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0020|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education
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0021|     study committee submit its findings and recommendations to the
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0022|     legislature by January 1, 1999; and
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0023|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0024|     transmitted to the chairman and the director of the
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0025|     legislative education study committee.
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