TOP OF MIND: NM State Fair: what are you most excited to see and do there this year?

Top of Mind is a weekly question about an issue affecting New Mexicans.

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has just seen her fourth Public Education Department secretary leave the post since 2019. What can be done to have a more long-term PED secretary to ensure our education system is improved?

“Anyone taking NMPED secretary job must be a sacrificial lamb. Until this governor and current teacher union leadership are history N.M. will remain mired in the depths of worst in nation education. Where is the “N.M. Fire” the Guv bragged at DNC?”

— Dave Coulie, Albuquerque

“Hire someone from out of state for the Public Education Department secretary position who is not afraid to disrupt the status quo and make the public school system all that it can and should be.”

— Linda Dembnicki, Albuquerque

“Nothing ‘can be done to have a more long-term PED secretary to ensure our education system is improved’ in this state until Gov. MLG either climbs down from her high horse, retires or moves to D.C. and applies for an hourly civil service job.”

— Harry Hart, Albuquerque

“Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham continues to foster unsustainable leadership of our state. As it stands, the retention of competent officials hinges on a leadership change. We require a governor who comprehends the needs of our struggling families and their students to enhance our education system, a role Gov. MLG does not fulfill.”

— Taylor Smith, Corrales

“The common factor in the PED departures is Gov. MLG. A new PED secretary alone won’t help anymore than teachers’ raises or new classrooms. The New Mexico school system needs to be completely dismantled and rebuilt from the top down.”

— Michael Davis, Albuquerque

“We cannot maintain a PED secretary due to Governor MLG’s unstable, unprofessional approach to leadership. She has consistently driven away secretaries through difficult-to-meet mandates, overly strict and overbearing bouts of bureaucratic authority, and a general lack of understanding for what policies are best for a consistently struggling student population.”

— Alexander Jones, Los Lunas

NEXT WEEK'S QUESTION

As we welcome the New Mexico State Fair, what are you most excited to see and do there this year?

Submit your response at: https://www.abqjournal.com/site/forms/online_services/top_of_mind/

Responses must include your name and city of residence to be published.