Now we know a little how Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero feels as he runs into a buzzsaw of opposition to the plan that would mandate all schools hold classes for 180 days a year and that four day a week schedules be restricted.
That was approved by the legislature but Romero is being accused of misinterpreting the legislation, We don't yet know the ultimate outcome, although Romero's says he is open to minor changes, but the prospect of the change sent our dissenting readers rushing to their keyboards.
From reader Tom Miles:
It seems to me the issue is pretty well stated by reader Annabella St. Peter --The public schools and our community as a whole should focus on the emotional intelligence of the child. Quantity is not better. We need to understand and support the needs of the children in our state, looking at their social issues, living conditions, history, and background. Schools need more funding to increase the amount of professionals who can attend to different children and situations in a more personalized way.
More hours in the school day won’t do anything for that 40% chronically absent. They are out there doing their own side hustles as illegal and socially damaging as they may be - then we get to pay for the judicial and penal systems to pick up the pieces. Where are the savings, if any, in that?
I may be Pollyanna here, but what about trying teaching what is of interest and useful from the child's point of view? Kiddos are born learning machines. When the curriculum is rooted in last century New Mexico/America, it must be crazy making to today’s kids in school. Education will push STEM at them just because that’s the flavor of the day — as opposed to asking them what they are interested in and having them discover that STEM is a source of extremely useful tools they can learn and use to further their own personal interests — and find other kids and adults of like minds with which to team up.
THROWING HOURS
Reader John G. writes:
Throw more hours at the problem. That’s what I would expect from a pretty uninspired government bureaucrat. Throwing more hours at the problem is a step backward particularly in a rural state like New Mexico. Those long hours riding in a school bus are better spent doing homework and studying. A much better approach is for PED Secretary Romero to get out of the office and see what’s already working.
While it’s not the only public school that already working, one that I’m aware of and financially support is Misson Achievement and Success charter school. 78% of their 8th grade students are proficient in English vs 35% for APS, while in Math it’s 45% vs 25% for APS.
And, it’s not because their students are any better off than APS’ student body, in fact they’re somewhat worse off. Clearly they must be doing right. And this is not the only public school that’s doing a better job. So I would suggest Mr. Romero visit these schools to find out what’s working and then attempt to implement the best practices he identifies in these schools statewide. In other words, find out what’s already working in NM and not just blindly throw more hours at the problem. And he really needs to make his email address publicly available. What’s he afraid of?
WRONG CONVERSATION?
Joe, Your reader Annabella St. Peter is hitting on the important topic of how bad teacher morale is these days, and that Education Secretary Romero's proposal for longer school days and longer school years will make that worse. However, I write to say we are having the wrong conversation about education in our State. There are changes we need to make that are either not discussed or insufficiently discussed:
1. Absenteeism. You can't teach a student if the student is not in the seat too many times. This problem is far more tied to socio-economic status, and since we are historically and currently a poor state, the absentee issue has grown even worse over the past two decades. See this article from just a month ago, "New Mexico School Absentee Rates Still At High Levels." Last school year nearly 40% of students where chronically absent
2. Every student added to a teacher's class diminishes that teacher's ability to help struggling students. When I look at official numbers, NM is slightly higher in class size than better education performing states such as NJ and NY. So why the need for lower class size? NM is a much higher poverty state, and students from impoverished families need more direct assistance from teachers and administrators--full stop. I saw it with the relatively few impoverished students I taught in Rio Rancho, where I had to make myself push to help them more with extra time, more direct discussion about the work eventually handed in, and even some informal counseling when they refused to seek any help from a counselor. This is why NM needs to lower its class sizes, and provide teachers with more opportunities for tutoring while in class, and immediately before or after school.
I guess you could say we have been taken to school over school hours. Thanks for the feedback.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023
(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023