Latest New Mexico K-12 curriculum controversy, only on Zoom

New Mexico officials have been inundated with critical letters on proposed K-12 social studies standards over the inclusion of racial identity and social justice themes in a majority Latino state where Indigenous tribes have persevered through war, famine, internment camps and boarding schools aimed at stamping out their cultures.

Education funding on ballots in New Mexico cities’ elections

Local governments across New Mexico are seeking to renew property taxes to pay for school buildings, computers and air ventilation systems even as school districts are slated to receive $900 million in federal pandemic aid. Ventilation upgrades are on virtually all lists after state authorities mandated upgraded systems better able to pull tiny virus particles out of the air. They often require new machinery. Due to recent changes in state law, all money raised by local school funding ballot initiatives will go to funding to local schools.

New Mexico awards $157M in grants to child care providers

New Mexico's child care department is sending millions to child care centers in an effort to keep them in business, awarding grants to pay for everything from salaries to rent. The state Early Childhood Education and Care Department announced Wednesday $157 million in awards to 1,004 child care providers, from large centers to those who offer child care out of their homes.

Data on child abuse in New Mexico called into question

Data on child abuse in New Mexico has been called into question after lawmakers raised concerns that the former director of the state’s child welfare agency provided inaccurate statistics. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports legislative committee staff has since found child abuse deaths in the state have more than doubled in fiscal year 2020 from the previous year and the state has the second-highest rate of repeated child maltreatment in the nation.

New Mexico pledges support for tribal adoptions in state law

The new leader of New Mexico's child protection department pledged to restore the agency's credibility following a series of scandals under her predecessor. New Mexico Children Youth and Family Department Secretary Barbara J. Vigil also promised to enshrine federal law prioritizing tribal members in adoptions of Native American children into the practices of her department and state law.

Behind bars since age 16, juvenile lifer watches New Mexico struggle over sentencing reform

Michael Brown is one of dozens of people in New Mexico who received what juvenile justice reformists call “de-facto life sentences” — sentences so long they will likely never be released — for crimes committed as minors. He is a vocal supporter of youth sentencing reforms, part of a national movement to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and make them eligible for parole earlier.

Pandemic relief for foster youth expires, ending aid to thousands

UPDATE: The Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act expired Sept. 30 without an extension. The results of failing to act, advocates warn, will be an estimated 20,000 young adults kicked out of the foster care system and cut off from aid that they have relied on to weather the financial challenges caused by the pandemic.

New Mexico education policy director resigns over remarks

An education policy expert has resigned her post at the New Mexico Legislature following a long-simmering controversy over remarks she made about Native American students in 2019. Legislative Education Study Committee director Rachel Gudgel announced her resignation last week, ending her tenure as a top nonpartisan adviser to lawmakers focused on education policy, where she earned around $130,000 per year.
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