Republican legislators call for rejection of PED rule change

Republican legislators from the Senate and House of Representatives issued a joint letter to the Public Education Department and Secretary Arsenio Romero Wednesday urging the rejection of a proposed rule regarding instructional time.

The rule proposes a mandated five-day school week and 180 days of instructional time for public schools — a deviation from the expanded learning hours recently approved by the Legislature.

The letter was signed by Eunice School Board member Sen. David Gallegos (Eunice); Senate Republican Leader, Sen. Greg Baca (Belen); former Rio Rancho school board member Sen. Craig Brandt (Rio Rancho); Sen. Pat Woods (Broadview); high school teacher and Rep. Tanya Mirabal Moya (Belen); and school administrator, Rep. Brian Baca (Los Lunas).

Gallegos released the following statement regarding the proposed rule change:

“This rule change is a direct challenge to local school districts and their ability to act in the best interest of their students. The legislature was clear when we wrote the law and the hourly unit we chose to define instructional time was intentional. An executive agency like PED should not be able subvert the will of the Legislature and local school districts through rule changes that strip more local control. I urge PED to reject this rule, and if they do not, I call on the Legislature to immediately address this overreach when we convene in January.”

The letter reads:

“Dear Secretary Romero:

“We, the undersigned New Mexico legislators, are writing to express our opposition to the Public Education Department’s (“PED”) proposed rule mandating a five-day school week and 180-day calendar for all schools. In addition to seizing more local control, this rule would circumvent the Legislature’s intent regarding instruction time and place an undue burden on our school districts.

“We all want improvement in our education system in New Mexico. Our declining scores and national rankings are of great concern to us, but we believe those best suited to solve this crisis are those closest to the challenge — our local school boards and administrators. For this reason, the Legislature, in consultation with educators and school boards, chose to implement a requirement based on hours, not days. This provided our school districts with the flexibility to structure their calendar based on the needs of their students. In a shining example of what this district-led policy implementation can do, some districts have now organized their high school programs into a four-day schedule, with the fifth day serving as an optional career technical education day.

“This is the kind of innovation and flexibility we envisioned when we passed the law, and since its implementation, our school districts have worked overtime to develop a schedule that works for them. To change the rules now would not only be an insult to them, but to the students and teachers who will be directly impacted by this untimely proposal.

“Over the past month, we have all been contacted by concerned parents, teachers and administrators. This proposed rule clearly lacks support from key stakeholders, and as legislators, we take particular exception to a rather blatant attempt to skirt the work we accomplished earlier this year. If PED wishes to amend the laws duly enacted by the Legislature, we invite the department to bring this matter to us in January when we are in session. In the meantime, we respectfully urge you to heed the concerns of our constituents and reject this rule.”