44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STATE LAWS ON SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND TO PREPARE A BILL FOR THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FORTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE TO IMPROVE NEW MEXICO'S SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND GRADUATION RATES.

WHEREAS, New Mexico ranks among the lowest in per capita income among the fifty states; and

WHEREAS, education and training are often cited as the most important criteria for attracting industry and stimulating the economy; and

WHEREAS, statistics on school attendance and dropout rates in New Mexico are inexact and inconsistently collected and maintained, but, according to the best available national statistics, New Mexico has a dropout rate of eight and one-half percent annually, which is twice the national average according to some experts; and

WHEREAS, statistics describing the dropout rate do not include children who never registered to go to high school; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico has a dropout problem even among elementary-age students; and

WHEREAS, some estimates indicate that between thirty and forty percent of high school freshmen drop out before graduation; and

WHEREAS, many schools indicate that attendance in the classroom is very low relative to schools in other states; and

WHEREAS, several school districts have addressed the dropout problem with alternative schools or alternative curricula; and

WHEREAS, some states have enacted tougher compulsory attendance laws that may provide effective incentives for remaining in school;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee be requested to study school attendance and to prepare legislation for the first session of the forty-fifth legislature to improve graduation and school attendance rates; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education study committee submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature by January 1, 2001; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chairman and the director of the legislative education study committee.