Executive Director Stan Rounds
New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders
By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
Santa Fe New Mexican
Eight people have occupied the position of top public education chief in New Mexico since 2003 — more if you count those who held the job on an interim basis.
Most of them have come under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has had five people serve full time as Cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Public Education Department so far.
To address the often-referenced revolving door in the top leadership of the state’s public education system, lawmakers have introduced Senate Joint Resolution 3, a measure that would replace the current model with a state school board to direct school policy and funding. The board would also appoint a statewide superintendent to lead the Public Education Department, eliminating the Cabinet secretary position.
That move, backers of the resolution say, would return New Mexico to a system that was in place for decades but abandoned in 2003.
“Over the course of about 40 years of that prior system, we had three state superintendents of schools,” the resolution’s sponsor, Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, told lawmakers of the Senate Rules Committee on Monday. “That stability is very important for education to move forward.”
The proposal, however, faces a long uphill battle and only narrowly cleared its first hurdle in the Roundhouse on Monday. The Senate Rules Committee voted 5-4 along party lines, with Democrats in favor of passing the legislation along to the next committee without a recommendation. Since it seeks to amend New Mexico’s constitution, the resolution would also need to be approved by voters statewide if it clears the Roundhouse. Although, it would not need the governor’s signature.
SJR 3 heads next to the Senate Education Committee and must also clear the Senate Finance Committee before reaching the chamber floor.
The proposal, which has seen multiple failed pushes in recent years and more than one competing pieces of legislation this session, faces skepticism that replacing the current model would actually address the issue of shifting leadership.
“It’s only under this governor have we had a continuing rotation of Cabinet secretaries,” said Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte. “… Wouldn’t it be a little misleading to suggest then that it’s the structure that’s the problem, and not, perhaps, this current administration and being able to hold qualified secretaries in the position?”
While backers of the resolution point to the stability of the previous statewide school board system — which New Mexico had in place until 2003, when voters chose to implement the current Public Education Department and Public Education Commission — opponents say otherwise.
In an interview, Public Education Secretary-designate Mariana Padilla cited testimonials from a school board member under the old system in arguing it often led to slow, politicized decision-making that struggled to pursue unified goals.
Padilla, who was named to the post in September following the resignation of former Secretary Arsenio Romero, added that local superintendents have faced frequent turnover in recent years, and questioned if a statewide version of that would turn out any different.
Although she acknowledged the significant turnover in her job, Padilla said the mission has largely remained the same through the several Cabinet secretaries.
“Our efforts around structured literacy [have] been consistent since 2019, it has not changed at all. Our efforts around special education have not changed at all. The cradle to career efforts have not changed,” she said. “There isn’t a whole reset when a new secretary has come in.”
The measure also faces opposition from charter school leaders, who would see the Public Education Commission — which is responsible for authorizing such schools — replaced. According to a Legislative Education Study Committee analysis of SJR 3, it’s not clear who would take over those responsibilities.
Public Charter Schools of New Mexico Executive Director Matt Pahl said the agency operates efficiently as it is, in part because it is singularly focused on charter schools.
“I would hate to see them take votes on charter issues after having a multihour debate on something focused on curriculum, or books and libraries,” he said of the prospective new school board.
To help allay charter schools’ hesitations about SJR 3, New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders Executive Director Stan Rounds said in an interview backers of the resolution plan to introduce amendments to it. Notably, that would include adding a specialized commission tasked with authorizing charter schools.
“My notion is that once you move this body back to all of education, that then you would carve out a commission that is just for the purpose of approving and overseeing the charters,” he said.