{"id":274129,"date":"2017-01-18T16:12:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T23:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=274129"},"modified":"2017-01-20T23:34:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T06:34:26","slug":"santa-fe-archbishop-backs-controversial-plan-to-fund-early-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/01\/santa-fe-archbishop-backs-controversial-plan-to-fund-early-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Fe archbishop backs controversial plan to fund early education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Santa Fe Catholic Archbishop John C. Wester, providing an example that being on the right side of a political party is one thing but staying on the right side of the Lord can be another, urged state lawmakers Wednesday<\/span><\/span> to support a controversial proposal for funding early childhood education.<\/p>\n

\"Santa

New Mexican file photo<\/p>

Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester<\/p><\/div>\n

Wester appealed to legislators during the annual prayer breakfast to back a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to use 1.5 percent of investment revenues each year from the state’s $15 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund.<\/p>\n

This plan would provide an estimated $140 million annually for early childhood education, defined as applying to children from the prenatal stage to age 5.<\/p>\n

The archbishop said using the fund for early childhood education would boost the quality of life for young people in a state with one of the highest rates of child poverty.<\/p>\n

“We see the high crime rate, the poverty rate, the violence, the addictions — these things are all directly connected to early childhood,” Wester said.<\/p>\n

But Republicans and some Democrats have long opposed using the land grant endowment for early childhood education. The fund was established by Congress when New Mexico became a state and is intended to provide a steady stream of revenue for public schools.<\/p>\n

Wester, though, discounted reports that say using a share of the fund would cast into uncertainty its ability to provide a reliable source of revenue for public. He said the fund has already survived two “doomsday” scenarios — a decline in the stock market as well as the shriveling of oil and gas production.<\/p>\n

Wester said spending the money on early childhood education would not only give young New Mexicans a better start but create an estimated 4,000 jobs.<\/p>\n