Race to the Bottom?

Gary Johnson

Governor Gary Johnson pushed to change the independently elected State Board of Education to a Secretary of Education structure. Under this organization, the governor would appoint the Cabinet Secretary, and voters would have accountability. The partisan legislature never allowed the Johnson Administration to move in this direction. Governor Richardson promised educational reforms and results; all he needed was the tools to be successful. The partisan legislature agreed to send this change to the voters for their consideration. Richardson also pressed the voters to change our State Constitution to take more money from our Severance Tax Permanent Fund to plow into education. The electorate, sensitive to the importance of a quality education, granted both of these initiatives.

Bill Richardson

Now comes the end of Governor Richardson’s second term. New Mexico’s 40+% dropout rate has worsened during his term of office, and there seem to be plenty of new excuses for the failure of our students. The US Department of Education’s Race to the Top under President Obama provides some unbiased perspective. The Education Department recently awarded $3.4 billion to nine states and the District of Columbia in this competition.

Winners received at least 440 points out of 500. New Mexico scored 305 points. Notable highlights*of NM’s application included:

· Zero out of 28 points on “using evaluations to inform key decisions”
· Zero out of 15 in “ensuring equitable distribution of effective teachers and principals in high poverty schools”
· Zero out of 14 in “improving the effectiveness of teacher and principal preparation programs”; and
· 40 points out of 40 for ensuring successful high-performing charter schools.

* Information compiled by the Legislative Finance Committee.

Race to the Bottom?