Poverty Isn't An Excuse; It's a Call to School Reform
By Veronica C. García
Public Education Secretary
I agree with my former U.S. history teacher Moises Venegas that poverty is not an indicator of future academic performance.
But his recent commentary, "Poverty No Excuse Not To Educate," quoted me out of context. I was explaining, in literal terms, the reason for New Mexico's D+ on Education Week's Quality Counts "Chance for Success Index."
There are three major components of the index. The first is Adult Outcomes. It covers adult educational attainment, adult annual income (at or above the national median) and steady employment. New Mexico ranked 36th, 40th, and 43rd respectively.
Early Foundations, the second component of the index, includes: Family Income, Parent Education (at least one parent with a post secondary degree), Parental Employment and Linguistic Integration (children whose parents are fluent English Speakers). New Mexico ranked 50th, 47th, 46th, and 47th respectively. On this particular Index, a major contributing factor to New Mexico's D+ is poverty. It isn't my opinion; it is just how the index is created.
The third component of the index is the schooling years, of which preschool enrollment and postsecondary participation are indicators. New Mexico ranked 42nd and 48th respectively.
New Mexico ranks second in the nation for the number of low-income children living 200 percent below the federal poverty threshold.
New Mexico ranks third in the nation for the greatest difference between the well-being of our low-income children and high-income children, according to Kids Count 2007.
To ensure that children of poverty have an equal opportunity to reach educational excellence and achieve success, we must ensure that all children be held to the same high level of expectation regardless of zip code, and we must help mitigate the impacts of poverty.
While New Mexico received a D+ for the Chance for Success Index, it scored an A- for standards, assessments and accountability; a B- for transitions and alignment; a C+ for the teaching profession; a D- for K-12 student achievement; and a C for school finance. New Mexico's overall grade was a C, also matching the overall national grade of a C.
Education Week, the Fordham Foundation, The Education Trust and the U.S. Department of Education pour out research concluding that all students, if taught a rich curriculum matched to high standards by a quality teacher, can and will succeed academically. These same institutions give New Mexico high marks in all of those areas praising our state for our education reform efforts, standards students must meet and accountability.
In this and last year's Quality Counts report, New Mexico ranked high in the nation for aggressive state policies ensuring high standards, aligned assessments and strong accountability. New Mexico has also been recognized for having high academic standards aligned to the National Assessment for Educational Progress. In 2007, we were ranked eighth in the nation for fourth-grade reading, ninth for fourth-grade math, seventh for eighth-grade math and 11th for eighth-grade reading.
New Mexico may rank 50th for parent income, but we will not and are not setting low expectations for our children!
New Mexico ranked second in the nation for education reform in the Fordham Foundation's 2006 publication: "How Well Are Our States Educating Our Neediest Children?" We were recognized as one of only nine states with an approved Highly Qualified Teacher Plan by the U.S. Department of Education in 2006, and in 2007 New Mexico had a 94 percent of core classes taught by Highly Qualified teachers.
We have worked diligently to mitigate the impacts of poverty. Gov. Bill Richardson, the Legislature and the Public Education Department implemented programs like school breakfast; pre-K; kindergarten-3+, which extends the school year; physical education; and school improvement. These programs were implemented first in our highest poverty areas.
New Mexico now ranks first in the nation for the highest number of low-income students eating free and reduced-price breakfast, according to the Food and Research Action Center 2007.
High-school redesign, that goes into effect next school year, is yet another insurance policy to ensure that all students, not just the well-off, are held to high expectations. Our proposed high school exit exam will require that all students do well on our rigorous 11th-grade assessment and demonstrate competence on a college-ready test like the ACT or SAT or career readiness test like Work Keys.
We have dramatically changed the culture of education expectations for all students in New Mexico. We have a long way to go, but research and our national recognitions over the last four years show that we have laid a solid foundation.
I say to Venegas and to all New Mexicans, we must remain vigilant and continue our efforts until all of New Mexico's students, regardless of their family's income level, are achieving at high academic levels and are truly ready for college or career when they leave our public schools.
(Read the entire Education Week Quality Counts report at www.ped.state.nm.us )
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