President Stephanie LyAFT News:
ALBUQUERQUE ― American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly released the following statement:
“The National Assessment of Educational Progress is a barometer of student proficiency and rightly referred to as the ‘Nation’s Report Card.’ However, today’s results show New Mexico continues to struggle, and our state is not immune to shifting priorities away from a strong system of public education in our country.
“Today’s report card shows a stagnation in many states across our country, where funding levels for our public schools have not recovered from the Great Recession. Further, as real investments in our schools fade from being a bi-partisan priority, students across our country will continue to fall behind their peer groups in other industrialized nations.
“This report sends the critical message that when we under-fund our public schools and make the conscious choice not to pursue a high-quality public education, students suffer, further widening the achievement gap, especially for traditionally marginalized populations of students.
“Educators in New Mexico know we must reset our educational priorities to focus on the whole child: we must prioritize our students’ well-being through expansion to universal early childhood education, promote powerful learning through the expansion of community schools in our state, lift up and respect our educators, and recommit ourselves to meaningful collaboration at all levels. Only through pursuing a path which supports improvement for the whole child can we expect to see progress improve in New Mexico.”
