New Mexico Politics Overshadows Education

Social Promotion

Last Sunday, the Albuquerque Journal’s front headline read, “Education policy in focus at Roundhouse.” This article deals with the ongoing issue of government mandated testing and evaluations the teachers feel are “faulty and unfair.” The teachers in New Mexico met in Santa Fe to protest Governor Susana Martinez’s education bill HB93. This bill mandates teachers to hold back third graders that do not read up to their level. The teachers want the option to hold students back, not to be forced to treat every child the same regardless of the situation. Bill sponsor, Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, supports the change to the bill that would give the districts and the teachers the option of holding back struggling students. Garcia argues that every child’s situation is different. The teachers feel this bill and similar ones in the state overemphasize testing. They also believe funding, which is going into “below-the-line” matters like, evaluations, the parent online portal (gives parents a daily update) and testing, should instead go directly to the districts to be used to meet their particular needs.

This summary had to be pulled from between the lines since the article mainly focuses on the political side of Governor Martinez reelection. What the article fails to ask is why the parent portal and evaluations are negative for teachers? On the surface it sounds like accountability. What parent wouldn’t want to know what their child is doing on a daily basis? Evaluations say to parents that their teachers are being held to set standards. This sounds like a positive situation for education initiatives.  Guessing at the answer, however, is where the article ends. Unfortunately, this article is an amalgamation of three staff writers, and it reads as such. This requires me to actually ask a teacher to get the answers the article fails to answer.

I spoke to an Albuquerque Public School (APS) teacher, who is a friend of mine, to get her perspective. From what she has told me, the online portal is not a bad idea, however, the $1.5 million the article says it is consuming takes away from actual classroom needs. She thinks the money should go to needs such as school supplies, text, and computers. My friend is no stranger to using her own money to by school supplies for her elementary class. When I asked about the evaluations, she told me that accountability is good, however, the evaluation system is unfair. She told me that teachers are penalized for taking days off, which adds stress to already taxed professionals. She also told me that if a student, for example, takes the state test and aces it, then they could not proceed past the limits of the test. So when the student takes the test a second time, it looks as if there is no progress, which reflects negatively on the teacher. On the other hand, if the student fails because of personal issues, like stress from a parents divorce, there is no way to factor in problems not related to academics.

This is another situation of a blanket response to education reformation by the state government. None of the solutions proposed by Governor Martinez fix problems; they only mask them. Someday, hopefully, the student’s academic needs will be placed above politics.