New Mexico governor says state will lead an educational transformation

SANTA FE — Cradle to career — that’s the educational path Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants her state to set for the rest of the country.

She knows New Mexico has a long way to go, she told a room full of oil and gas industry officials and experts on Monday, but insists the state will do it. And not only that, the governor said — New Mexico will lead the way nationally in improving education.

“We’re going to lead a transformation in the country that changes those negative outcomes across the United States,” Lujan Grisham said.

She presented on a panel about education at an annual conference held by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association on Monday.

While the state has seen some positive educational shifts, like absenteeism reduction and improving literacy rates, more work needs to get done, the governor acknowledged.

She said the state needs to strategically spend more on education in comparison to its budget to see performance outcomes.

“But without your money — so thank you — we can’t get it at the Permanent Fund. We can’t build these huge trust funds,” she told the fossil fuel leaders, whose industry sends massive amounts of money to the state. She was referencing permanent funding of millions of dollars — even $1 billion some years — to New Mexico public schools, universities and early childhood education.

Tracee Bentley is the president and CEO of the Permian Strategic Partnership, a collaboration between communities and oil and gas companies operating in the Permian Basin.

On the panel, Bentley said a key point of the Permian Strategic Partnership’s work with the state is to figure out why educational performance isn’t improving, despite the investments lawmakers have made toward that end.

“All roads lead to education, because without a solid education, the rest kind of falls by the wayside. And so we are so focused on this,” she said. “And we were so excited when the governor called me and said, ‘Get in my office. We need to talk.’”

The governor voiced support for programs like career technical training, free college and free child care — “a wraparound set of services that sort of create, longitudinally, partnerships that focus on kids and their parents.”

She said students also need to spend more time in school. Policymakers blocked Lujan Grisham’s proposal to mandate 180 days during the 2024 Legislature, and a court-issued preliminary injunction put another 180-day proposal from the New Mexico Public Education Department on pause earlier this year.

“I’ve got seniors and juniors in high school that are home at 10:30 in the morning. Let me tell you what students who aren’t working are doing at 10:30 in the morning. None of it is good,” she said to a chuckling audience.

Lujan Grisham also said the state has “almost zero” accountability efforts at schools. She added that there’s local control, which she believes in.

“The Legislature has been incredibly generous to the state, investing in a number of strategies, including extended learning and different training for educators, before- and after-school programs ... you name it. But they’re not mandatory,” the governor said.

She said the quality of education also ties directly to the success of the economy.

“They’re linked together,” Lujan Grisham said. “So if you don’t do one well, you don’t have the other.”

However, she touted New Mexico’s robust energy landscape, including oil and gas and renewables, and the boost it provides for the state’s economy.

Poor-quality education is a national issue, the governor said.

“We have the lowest literacy rates in America for any industrialized nation in the world. How is that possible when we lead everywhere? We have the best economy in the world. How is it that we’re an illiterate society? That’s outrageous,” Lujan Grisham said. “So what’s happening here will be the national model.”