{"id":590091,"date":"2018-06-07T00:01:14","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T06:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=590091"},"modified":"2018-06-07T08:37:02","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T14:37:02","slug":"adult-education-can-be-a-game-changer-for-families-and-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/06\/adult-education-can-be-a-game-changer-for-families-and-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult education can be a game-changer for families and economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Connie

Courtesy of Connie Flores<\/p>

When Connie Flores received her high school equivalency diploma last year at the age of 39, she was honored by the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy as \u201cStudent of the Year.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Connie Flores never wanted to drop out of school, let alone leave in eighth grade. But like thousands of other teenagers who never graduate high school in New Mexico — a state with one of the highest dropout rates in the nation — Flores didn\u2019t think she had a choice.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d been an A student in her early school years in Santa Clara, the small village near Silver City where she grew up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved school,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But when Flores reached fifth grade, she says her mother, an alcoholic, began to rage out of control. She alternately kicked Flores out of the house or disappeared on lengthy drinking sprees, leaving Flores in charge of her siblings.<\/p>\n