Skandera to get confirmation hearing

SANTA FE — After more than two years at the helm of New Mexico’s public school system, Hanna Skandera finally will get her day in the state Senate.

A long-awaited Senate confirmation hearing will be held Friday on Skandera’s 2-year-old nomination as Gov. Susana Martinez’s public education secretary, the Senate Rules Committee staff confirmed Wednesday.

Senate Democrats, who have questioned whether Skandera possesses the necessary constitutional qualifications to serve in the state’s top education post, said they would be asking tough questions.

“I think there will be some really serious questions asked,” said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.

Skandera has run the Public Education Department since she was designated secretary by Martinez in January 2011, but Senate Democrats have not, until now, scheduled a confirmation hearing.

Past Cabinet nominees have served without Senate confirmation votes, but a negative vote by the Senate against a nominee prevents the nominee from formally taking the post or continuing to serve in it.

Skandera told the Journal she looks forward to defending her record during the Friday hearing in the Senate Rules Committee.

“I stand ready to defend the reforms we’ve implemented,” Skandera said in a telephone interview. “Anytime we can talk about reforms and the kids of New Mexico, I get excited.”

Skandera, who has no classroom teaching experience, worked for the Florida Department of Education before coming to New Mexico.

Among other initiatives, she has pushed for assigning letter grades to schools, requiring that third-graders show adequate reading proficiency before moving to the next grade level and a new teacher evaluation system.
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal