STATE BUDGET PROPOSALS – REACTION RE: EDUCATION PROPOSED SPENDING FROM NEA-New Mexico

NEA-NM PRESIDENT PATTERSON REACTION TO DUAL BUDGET PROPOSALS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION, FY 2019

By State of New Mexico

“We applaud the Legislative Finance Committee, and the Governor’s office for both releasing budgets with increases for the funding of New Mexico’s public schools and the education of our students,” says NEA-New Mexico President Betty Patterson in reaction to today’s dual budget announcements. ” After years of funding reductions, this movement forward, slight though it is, is definitely good news for New Mexico’s students,” adds Patterson.

“Our school districts now struggle to maintain minimal services to support student success, having been woefully underfunded for many years. Appreciated as the proposed increases are, New Mexico students deserve more progress to be made toward providing all the resources they need. Later this year, when the lawsuit brought by both the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund will be decided, we expect the Court to rule these small increases do not represent the progress New Mexico students need.”