{"id":354935,"date":"2017-05-26T12:03:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T18:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=354935"},"modified":"2017-05-27T21:43:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-28T03:43:49","slug":"of-course-government-can-and-should-help-all-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/05\/of-course-government-can-and-should-help-all-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Of course government can and should help all children"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s graduation season. New Mexicans of all ethnicities and incomes are celebrating high school diplomas and college degrees. Meanwhile, the state is arguing in a lawsuit over education funding that it isn\u2019t responsible for providing greater help to children who face barriers to learning \u2013 even though there\u2019s a substantial need for such help.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

The state\u2019s logic is a significant contributing factor to New Mexico\u2019s problems. It\u2019s a disappointing confirmation of why we\u2019re failing.<\/p>\n

Two nonprofits representing several school districts argue the state is failing to provide equal opportunities for low-income, English language learning and Native American students in violation of the N.M. Constitution. I\u2019ll let a court decide the merits of the lawsuit. It\u2019s the statement from a lawyer representing the state, Stephen Hamilton, that caught my attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe simple fact is that all a school system can do is provide students the opportunity to learn,\u201d Hamilton was quoted by the Santa Fe Reporter<\/a> as saying. Paraphrasing Hamilton, the newspaper said he \u201cadded that students who are minorities, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged were not as receptive to education as others, and for this reason had lower rates of proficiency across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s absurd. It\u2019s as if the state doesn\u2019t recognize that government already provides additional help for children who come to school less prepared to learn. Free meals at school are one example. Special education is another.<\/p>\n

But clearly what we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t enough, or isn\u2019t effective. Students of certain ethnicities and economic statuses struggle to succeed more than others. Language and cultural barriers make school challenging for some.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a column arguing that government must fix society\u2019s problems. I don\u2019t engage in the liberal\/conservative debate between societal and personal responsibility because the debate is crap. It takes an individual, a family, a community, and government for people and society to succeed.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve long believed, as liberal and conservative policy changes fell flat, that our problems run deeper than partisan ideology can address. Here\u2019s a core problem: The state argues all it can do is make a basic learning environment available; it\u2019s up to children and parents to decide what to do with it.<\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/p>\n

Some kids need more or different help than others. Many face challenges at home that affect their ability to focus in school. Some struggle with English. Many Native Americans come from cultures that are so different \u2013 not better or worse, just different \u2013 that American education feels foreign. Government must meet them partway across that cultural commute.<\/p>\n

We need the courage to acknowledge our differences and challenges, and work through them. Otherwise we\u2019re choosing to be last in the rankings and export many of our successful kids to other states.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m raising my daughter here. She\u2019s fortunate to have food and shelter, speak and write English, and have parents who take an active role in her life and education.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also half brown. There\u2019s nothing inherently flawed about people of any ethnicity, even though statistically some groups face greater challenges. For example, in addition to the cultural gap, many Native Americans face generational trauma and poverty imposed by others.<\/p>\n

In spite of those things, all children can thrive \u2013 if given the help they need. I\u2019d like to see us choose to help.<\/p>\n

Government can\u2019t make children succeed. But if we don\u2019t fundamentally believe government can help people live healthier, happier, freer lives, regardless of where we start as learners, why have government at all?<\/p>\n

Heath Haussamen<\/a> is NMPolitics.net\u2019s editor and publisher. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All children can thrive, if given the help they need. I\u2019d like to see us choose to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[125,709,146,143,107],"class_list":["post-354935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-education","tag-native-americans","tag-poverty","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}