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| SPONSOR: | Madalena | DATE TYPED: | 3/1/99 | HB | 825 | ||
| SHORT TITLE: | Office of Indian Education | SB | |||||
| ANALYST: | L. Kehoe | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY99 | FY2000 | FY99 | FY2000 | ||
| $ 250.0 | Unknown | Recurring | General Fund | ||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Office of Indian Affairs
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 825 creates the "Office of Indian Education" as a subdivision of the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs, and appropriates $250,000 from the general fund to the Office of Indian Affairs to carry out the duties set forth in the bill.
Significant Issues
House Bill 825 requires that the New Mexico Commission on Indian Affairs set policy and direct the projects and programs to be undertaken by the new Office of Indian Education. The director of the new office would be appointed by the director of the OIA, with the consent of the commission, and would operate under the supervision of the director of the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs.
Duties of the office include improving performance levels of Indian students; providing assistance to school districts in the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of curricula; assist in coordinating programs to prepare Indian students for post-secondary education; work to increase the retention rate of Indian students; encourage drop out students to return to school or enter alternative schooling programs; and assist public schools in developing culturally appropriate programming for students of all ages.
The Office of Indian Education is currently operated within the State Department of Education (SDE). The Office of Indian Affairs strongly recommends that the Office of Indian Education remain at SDE in order to do justice to issues of such an important magnitude and agenda. The Office of Indian Affairs does not have the expertise or staff to conduct the business intended in House Bill 825.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The Office of Indian Affairs estimates that the proposed Office of Indian Education would require four FTE, a director, two consultants and a secretary. Operation costs for such items as travel, office supplies, communications and equipment would also increase. It is not certain if the appropriation contained in House Bill 825 would be sufficient to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the bill.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
LMK/gm