2003 Educational Reform Failed Miserably

Bill Richardson

The last time the State of New Mexico tackled education reform was 2003 when the legislature enacted and Bill Richardson signed what was characterized as sweeping "reforms" to the system. Friendly to unions, the House and Senate dismissed all calls for school choice and there was zero consideration given to a simple market-oriented school voucher system.

An Ad Hoc Subcommittee paved the way for Democrat's policy proposals. The committee reached the conclusion that throwing more money at teacher and principal salaries was a big part of the solution to New Mexico's educational woes. The committee also proposed a Professional Development Fund to be administered by the State Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education. This policy cleared the way for teachers to take time away from the classroom for “professional development” sessions. Finally, the committee called for the funding of a Cabinet Post for a Secretary of Education. Ten years ago New Mexico threw more money at educators, provided more government administered professional development programs, and added more administrative oversight in Santa Fe.
To pay for the increased spending the Ad Hoc Subcommittee called for a raid on the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund. It also called for increasing the tax burden through a Motor Vehicle Excise Tax increase. The committee also recommended amending the New Mexico Property Tax Code to dedicate an additional two mills on the net taxable value of property to public schools. Amazingly, the committee even called for the phasing out the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Gross Receipts Tax exemption. Ironically, Los Alamos has always had the most successful schools in New Mexico.

Most of the subcommittee's proposals were adopted. And nearly ten years have passed since Governor Richardson and Democrats in the House and Senate raised taxes and raided the Land Grant Permanent Fund so they could throw more money at the education problem. How did these policies fare in the real world?
Graduation rates have continued to decline and New Mexico student proficiency has continued to rank among the lowest in the nation. Not surprisingly, proponents of those 2003 policies are not held accountable for their failures. These days many of the same people who supported throwing more taxpayer dollars at education continue to fervently fight any approach to educational reform that doesn’t first and foremost benefit those who collect their paychecks from the state education system.

2003 Educational Reform Failed Miserably