Education Reform Director Mandi Torrez

From Think New Mexico:

New Mexico 2020 Teacher of the Year Mandi Torrez is the new Education Reform Director at Think New Mexico.

Torrez has a decade of experience teaching third and fourth grade in the Bernalillo Public Schools and also was recognized as that district’s 2019 Teacher of the Year.

Torrez holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism and a Master’s in Integrated Elementary and Special Education. Before becoming a teacher, she worked at the Farmington Daily Times as the News Editor and as Copy Editor.

Prior to joining Think New Mexico, Torrez served as Teacher Liaison at the Public Education Department, and she has experience advocating at the state legislature as a New Mexico Senior Policy Fellow with Teach Plus, a policy and leadership training network for teachers.

Think New Mexico’s major new effort is to rethink New Mexico’s public schools and lift up student performance and outcomes, particularly for the at-risk children who make up nearly three out of four students in New Mexico schools. The Albuquerque Journal recently published a supportive editorial about this new initiative (link).

Think New Mexico expressed appreciation to Abenicio Baldonado, its first Education Reform Director, who was recruited to a higher paying position elsewhere, but who helped lay the groundwork for the new education reform effort during his time with the organization.

Think New Mexico will keep the public updated on its efforts to win passage of its education reform recommendations during the 2023 legislative session. Read a guest editorial by Torrez about these reforms published in the Los Alamos Daily Post (link).