{"id":560901,"date":"2018-04-12T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=560901"},"modified":"2018-04-11T15:33:08","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T21:33:08","slug":"do-what-works-to-provide-student-success-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/04\/do-what-works-to-provide-student-success-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Do what works to provide student success resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> Teachers and other educators across the nation say \u201cenough\u201d to chronic underfunding of public education.<\/p>\n

Here in New Mexico, educators await a positive outcome to the lawsuit against the state for failing to provide public schools the supports necessary for statewide student success. The National Education Association-New Mexico applauds every parent, school district board of education, and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund for bringing the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\"Charles

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Charles Goodmacher<\/p><\/div>\n

Our state constitution mandates that state government provide a \u201cuniform system of free public schools sufficient for the education of all the children of school age.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Mexican children possess the same potential, intelligence and motivation as their peers across the country. New Mexico has loving and supportive families, committed teachers and supportive communities, but the state is starving its public schools.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s small education funding increase is much needed but falls too far short. Taking baby steps is not the way to propel student success forward in the big strides needed.<\/p>\n

How much is the state short-changing our students? A recent study conducted of the 2014-2015 school year by economist Steven Barro found that New Mexico\u2019s education system is currently underfunded by approximately $600 million.<\/p>\n

Student success requires smart investments too \u2013 like shifting the millions and enormous time spent each year on standardized tests.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s fund what works:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Grow evidence-based educational programs to succeed, including universal access to early learning opportunities; statewide pre-K, K-3+ and other extended learning opportunities; and reading interventions.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Offer community schools with \u201cwraparound\u201d services like health clinics and social services that mitigate the impact of poverty on learning.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Improve teacher training, professional development and retention to more effectively serve our diverse students. This must include student safety and anti-bully training.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Increase educator pay until New Mexico is in line with the world\u2019s highest achieving school systems. End programs not proven to help, like unfair bonuses based on the current flawed teacher evaluation system.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ensure resources are distributed equitably, including for economically disadvantaged, Native American and English-language learners.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Provide for one-on-one attention with smaller class sizes.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do what works!<\/p>\n

Our state\u2019s last two governors (and the Legislature) each cut personal and corporate tax rates, thereby shortchanging our state $800 million. Our state\u2019s anemic economy is proof that taking tax revenue away from public schools does not help. Tax rates on the wealthiest few individuals and corporations should be phased back so we can invest in student success.<\/p>\n

The greatest investment the state can make for both short- and long-term economic growth is to educate its children. For every million dollars spent on education, twice as many jobs are created compared to spending on roads \u2013 and the long-term payoff is greater too.<\/p>\n

New Mexico needs a governor and a Legislature with the strength of public purpose to do what it takes to provide for our students that which is needed for a sufficient education.<\/p>\n

Charles Goodmacher is the government and media relations director for the National Education Association-New Mexico<\/a>.\u00a0Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teachers and other educators across the nation say \u201cenough\u201d to chronic underfunding of public education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":299050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[234,125,107],"class_list":["post-560901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-children","tag-education","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560901","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=560901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}