Governor signs education package on reading, math, teacher benefits

SANTA FE — In a move she said will support both New Mexico’s students and teachers, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law a suite of education-related bills Monday that will bolster reading and math instruction, establish a state Office of Special Education and cheapen health insurance premiums for educators.

“This is, I think, one of the state’s most important moments,” Lujan Grisham said, flanked by local students and lawmakers from the House and the Senate Education committees.

Senate Bill 37, known as the High Quality Literacy Instruction Act, seeks to improve how the state’s schools teach reading by using a grade-specific testing system for early readers and requiring teachers to use approved instructional materials from the Public Education Department. 

SB37 also requires teachers to train in literacy instruction with a special focus on students with reading disabilities and English language learners. Under the bill, the PED will assign a literacy coach to elementary schools with low average reading proficiency beginning in the 2027-2028 school year.

Santa Fe third-grader Riley Goff spoke in favor of the bill, which requires schools to use a research-based teaching method called the science of reading. Goff said he struggled with reading until he got tutoring using this method last year.

“My teacher taught me how reading works, how letters make sounds, how sounds make words, and how words tell a story,” he said. “Because of that help, I caught up. Now I like reading, and I’m proud of myself.”

The legislation is a companion to Senate Bill 29, an effort to reform math instruction in New Mexico’s schools. The bill requires student teachers to take additional undergraduate coursework in math pedagogy to get a teaching license and establishes regular statewide standards for math instruction.

Like its literacy counterpart, SB29 requires teachers to conduct regular math assessments in kindergarten through third grade, and to notify a student’s parents if they show difficulty in math.

Both measures passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate.

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.

In middle school, progress worsened: 19% of eighth graders showed proficiency in reading and 14% in math.

Lujan Grisham said Monday she hoped this package of legislation would help change the state’s reputation for public education, particularly in science and math.

“I think New Mexico can be the education model for the country there, and I’m really proud that I got to be at the beginning phases of that,” she said.

The governor also signed Senate Bill 64, which establishes a state Office of Special Education, housed within the PED, 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. 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.

Lujan Grisham said the special education bill will help the state meet its requirements under the 2019 Yazzie-Martinez decision, which ruled that the state has a constitutional obligation to provide every student with a sufficient education, especially Native American students, English language learners, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students. 

Two other bills that became law Monday aim to improve benefits for educators. House Bill 47, effective at the beginning of July, requires employers to pay at least 80% of health insurance premiums for public school workers, bringing them to parity with other state employees. Employees would cover a maximum of 20% of their premiums under the bill.

Teachers and other state employees will get a 1% raise under the new state budget, down from 3% last year, according to Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico. Lawmakers said Monday they hope the cheaper health insurance will make up for next year’s smaller raises.

“Health insurance is a cost that is rising so fast it eats into those raises that we try and give our educators,” said Sen. Natalie Figueroa, D-Albuquerque. “There is no educator that can stay in a career where their paycheck shrinks year after year after year.”

House Bill 30, also signed Monday, 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.

The bill mandates teacher residents to spend a minimum of three years at any public school in New Mexico, instead of at the district or school where they completed their residency under the previous law.

Lujan Grisham also signed into law a bill that will give the University of New Mexico $20 million for a new stadium and $10 million each to Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University and Western New Mexico University for student housing and student life projects. 

The total number of bills signed into law as of Monday stands at 55. Any legislation not signed by Wednesday will be automatically vetoed.

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