SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By SFPS
According to a July 2018 New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) report, the PED identified Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) as an emerging district. The report, NMPED 2017-18 Student Assessment Results July 2018, stated, “If New Mexico stays the course, the third wave of districts is starting to emerge: APS, Santa Fe, Clovis, Deming and others are starting to show meaningful academic progress–they’re beginning to embrace the mindsets and practices of the state’s leading districts and schools–and will continue on an upward trajectory if we as a state ensure consistency for them.”
Superintendent Dr. Veronica C. Garcia said, “I agree with the PED’s assessment in their July 2018 report. Santa Fe Public Schools is on the rise. However, the PED reversed their stance and targeted our district in their August 17th press release, calling our district’s performance ‘most concerning.’ Additionally, the Secretary-designate Chris Ruzkowski stated that SFPS is a ‘district in crisis’ in an August 18th article in the Santa Fe New Mexican. It is not a surprise to me the PED changed course after identifying SFPS as an emerging district just one month earlier. Connecting the dots, it’s obvious that the PED’s change in tone occurred after the Martinez -Yazzie/ Sufficiency lawsuit ruling when I publicly disagreed with PED’s stance against the ruling.
“It is irresponsible for the PED to target SFPS with politically-driven messages. This causes turmoil in the community and creates distractions from our primary work of educating students. Regardless of the PED’s actions, we will continue to remain focused on improving student achievement and truly preparing our students for success in college and career by honing the attributes our community wants in our graduates.”
The NMPED 2017-18 Student Assessment Results July 2018 report can be found on the PED website at https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/PARCCBriefingPacket2018.pdf.
