OPINION: Accountability report card shows little bang for the buck

The Journal ran a report card on Albuquerque and Rio Rancho schools a couple of weeks ago that was nothing short of shocking. The Albuquerque Public Schools report card found that about 1 in 4 students is proficient in math, 39% are proficient in reading and 38% in science. Additionally, the regular attendance rate — meaning the percentage of students who are present for more than 90% of school days — was just 51%.

For decades we have known that APS is one of the worst performing school districts in the country. The old refrain was: At least we’re better than Mississippi. No longer. We are actually now the worst in the country and Mississippi has managed to climb the ranks to number 30 over those 20 years.

But, wait, New Mexico has oil and gas money, you might say. The data comes as the cost APS — meaning taxpayers — is paying per pupil is skyrocketing. APS is spending $33,079 per student in the 2025 school year. In 2016, the tab was around $17,500 per student, according to district data. That’s about on par with a top-tier private school. But the results aren’t keeping pace with costs.

The four-year graduation rate across the district was at 70%, though recently released year-over-year data showed the district made improvements. That raises additional questions: How did the district graduate so many students?

If most students aren’t proficient in their studies, and around half of them aren’t regularly in school, then how are they graduating? If they are not in school, what are they doing? That’s an important question local leaders should be asking as policymakers look for different ways of addressing juvenile crime.

The report cards are merely a tool that parents can use to get information about their local district at a glance. But the APS attendance rate jumps off the page and is a crucial first step. How are we supposed to expect a school system to improve education outcomes if the students aren’t in school?

To be fair, this isn’t something that APS could solve on its own. High schools can’t secure children in their classrooms. It’s not a detention center.

APS needs parents to be more involved in their children’s education. This can be done by improving communication between school officials and a more uniform system for establishing Individual Education Plans, or IEPs, across the district. IEPs are plans to help put struggling students and students with disabilities in a position for the best possible educational outcome. And perhaps it would serve the district to find ways to statistically track parental involvement, such as the percentage of parents who participate in parent-teacher conferences or IEP meetings. That way, the district could better analyze what works and doesn’t in getting parents more involved in their children’s education.

This year, the New Mexico Legislature completed a 60-day session during which juvenile crime was a hot-button issue. But most of the debate among lawmakers centered around upping the penalties for juveniles who are accused of serious crimes. Perhaps lawmakers should take a harder look at putting the onus more on parents for not being involved in their children’s lives. Is there a way to hold parents accountable when students are constantly ditching school, getting access to firearms and committing crimes?

New Mexico is struggling to keep its talent. New Mexico for years has seen young adults leave in pursuit of high-paying job opportunities. Our chambers of commerce report the difficulty in recruiting successful businesses to the state, prompting the Legislature to try to pass laws to make the state more enticing, such as site-readiness legislation to predevelop commercial districts that businesses can move into. But the current reputation of the local school district will be a barrier to all those efforts until significant changes are made.

Just last week, a district court judge found that the New Mexico Public Education Department wasn’t complying with the yearslong Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit requirements. That lawsuit, which found that the state was failing its educational obligations to students, shows that problems need correction sooner rather than later for all students.