Five education bills pass Legislature, head to governor's desk

The New Mexico Legislature passed a set of education bills Tuesday and Wednesday that would strengthen math teaching requirements, improve student teacher salaries, establish a state Office of Special Education, reform virtual learning and change the nominating procedures for the boards of regents at New Mexico universities.

The four bills will head next to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk. The governor has until March 11 to sign them, or they will be automatically vetoed.

Senate Bill 29: Math requirements for teachers

SB 29, sponsored by Sen. William Soules, D-Las Cruces, Rep. Debra Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Catherine Cullen, R-Rio Rancho, is part of a set of legislation that seeks to bolster reading and math education statewide. The other half of the pair, Senate Bill 37, which would standardize and strengthen literacy education, is scheduled to be debated on the House floor Wednesday.

New Mexico ranked 50th in the country in reading and math in a 2024 report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which showed only 20% of fourth graders were proficient in reading and 23% were proficient in math.

SB 29 would require teachers to conduct regular math assessments in kindergarten through third grade, and to notify a student’s parents if the student shows difficulty in math. The bill mandates that prospective teachers take additional undergraduate coursework on math pedagogy to get a teaching license. 

The bill unanimously passed in both the House and the Senate.

House Bill 30: Teacher Residency Act changes

HB 30 sets the minimum stipend for an undergraduate teacher resident at 65% of an entry level teacher’s salary, or $35,750. For teacher residents with a bachelor’s degree, the bill raises the minimum stipend to 80% of an entry level salary, or $44,000.

Teacher residency is a paid program that allows prospective teachers to spend a year working under the mentorship of a teacher to get their license. 

The bill would require teacher residents to spend a minimum of three years at any public school in New Mexico, which is a change from the current law, which requires them to teach for three years in the district or school where they completed their residency.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Debra Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, and four others, passed the House and the Senate in a unanimous vote. 

Senate Bill 64: Creating the Office of Special Education

SB 64, sponsored by Stewart, Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque, and Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo, seeks to create a state Office of Special Education housed within the Public Education Department to protect and support disabled students.

The office would monitor and prevent discrimination against students with special needs, and work to establish policies to help them succeed in school, according to the bill. The special education office would also implement a uniform Individualized Education Program, otherwise known as an IEP, to ensure continuity when students with disabilities move between schools.

SB 64 would remove 504 plans — which provide accommodations for disabled students, rather than specialized instruction — and gifted education from under the purview of the special education office, but would leave the programs unchanged.

The bill passed the House 62-1 Tuesday and the Senate 38-1 two weeks ago.

House Bill 253: Establishing the Distance Learning Act

HB 253 originally sought to create enrollment restrictions and caps for virtual learning programs, which would have impacted multiple distance learning programs across the state. After a heated debate in the House Education Committee, a rewritten HB 253 — that will no longer change any virtual learning programs — passed the House unanimously Saturday and the Senate 26-15 Wednesday.

The bill now requires that school districts report counts of how many of their students are enrolled in full-time virtual programs to PED. The department will evaluate the programs at least every five years, and if a program fails to meet standards, PED may withhold funding. Under HB253, the state will conduct a study of distance learning programs with a focus on kindergarten through fifth grade. 

House Joint Resolution 1: Changing nominations for boards of regents

HJR 1, sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, and Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, seeks to amend the state Constitution to change the way university regents are chosen.

As it stands now, regents are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. The bill would create nominating committees, which would provide a list of recommended names from which the governor can choose.

The resolution passed the Senate 34-7 Tuesday and the House 67-0 earlier this month.

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.