Courtesy photo
PED News:
BERNALILLO — With the theme “Delivering Success for New Mexico’s Students,” Secretary of New Mexico Public Education (PED) Arsenio Romero shared the agency’s vision with the Legislative Education Study Committee Tuesday, one in which teaching and learning are elevated to new heights.
During a meeting at Bernalillo High School, he highlighted policy wins from the 2023 legislative session, celebrated the department’s leadership team, some of whom flanked him at the table, and laid out the agency’s priorities.
Romero asked the committee to hold him to his top goal and challenge.
“You are going to see outcomes, not just little outcomes,” he said, adding that they will come in months, not years down the road, guided by data-driven, collaborative decisions. “If we do this work together, we will do it fast.”
The education secretary thanked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and lawmakers for the wins from the 2023 legislative session.
Education-related bills signed into law earlier this year include:
- Healthy Universal School Meals, legislation that invest in student health.
- Teacher Vocational Ed Licensure Track designed to expand the Career and Technical Education workforce.
- School Coach CPR and AED Training to improve health and safety on campuses.
- Education Assistance Salary Increase for the “lifeblood of the school system,” Romero said.
- Extended Learning Time that requires more instructional hours for students in public schools and allows districts and charter schools to develop additional unique teaching and learning experiences for students and staff. “I think we can all agree this is a good thing, when students have more time with teachers,” he said.
- Menstrual Products in School Bathrooms, which was a student-led effort.
Members of the secretary’s new leadership core shared their educational experiences with the committee. All expressed the great honor it is to serve New Mexico’s youth.
Each leader is “ready to do the hard work,” Romero said. “This team is amazing.”
Next, the education secretary shared game-changers, initiatives that will make a difference, including residencies to grow more school leaders, professional learning for school superintendents and alternative pathways into the teaching profession.
Romero listed potential topics of legislation for the 2024 session, including:
- Supports for special education
- Attendance improvements and dropout reduction
- Reduction in suspension and expulsion of students
Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, a Democrat from Bernalillo County, said she was impressed with what she heard today.
“I think we are getting back to normal,” she said. “Your team gives me a lot of hope. What you presented today gives me a lot of hope. We have a lot to be proud of. I think we are going to rocket to the moon, like you said.”