We again came in 50th when the national 2024 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state annual report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, was released this week.
Reaction was muted and no call to arms to reverse the standing was heard but there was a new set of excuses for the dismal showing.
New Mexico’s ranking in the education domain is heavily impacted by national standardized test scores. . . These scores do not reflect the ability of our children, but rather an education system that is not designed with our multicultural, multilingual students in mind. New Mexico K-12 students of color and those who are Native American, from low-income families, and who have disabilities tend to not fare as well as their white, more affluent peers, largely as a result of generations of underfunding the education system and a lack of culturally responsive instruction and support.
Institutionalized and systemic racism exacerbate inequities in child well-being, which are demonstrated in many of the KIDS COUNT indicators. Bottom-ranked states in the Data Book tend to have higher populations of children of color, highlighting that programs and systems are not designed to support them.
And here's the kicker:
New Mexico’s ranking is not a reflection of who we are. . .
Okay, then who are we? We're not a state that lacks the political will and leadership to embark on a concerted effort to improve our child well-being performance?
It's astonishing that Voices, which was critical of the previous Republican Governor's childhood polices, but now that we have a Democratic Governor they revert to racism to wave away the lack of progress.
The group is newly led by Gabrielle Uballez, the wife of Biden-appointed NM US attorney Alexander Uballez.
As for the excuses, the state education system has been anything but "underfunded" since 2019 when MLG took over:
In fiscal year 2018, New Mexico’s education system was funded at the tune of $2.69 billion; in fiscal year 2024, the education system was being funded at $4.17 billion. That is an increase of $1.3 billion over five years. State funds have been channeled toward reducing class sizes, hiring additional teachers, improving professional development programs, and enhancing resources for English language learners and special education students.
But Voices and other progressives--with rare exceptions--are not demanding better results from the administration and PED--not to mention the debacle at CYFD--but instead provides political cover.
AND THE PUSHBACK
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| Richard Eeds |
It's absolutely poor leadership. We are well past excuses. To be in a position of leadership and authority, and be recognized as the authority on the well-being of our kids and to say stuff like this should be a fireable excuse. As long as we listen to authority figures who say it’s OK to be last, we will remain last.
GOP state Senator Crystal Brantley, who has been watch dogging state childhood programs, said:
As long as we give power, credibility, and an audience to leaders who justify the state’s failure to care for our children, we will remain last in the nation. We have ample opportunities to improve, but Democratic leaders seem to just accept this moral failure as an immutable fact of life and an inevitability given our state’s poverty. But we are not a poor state, nor are we helpless. We must demand more from our leaders or vote to change directions this November.
Longtime Santa Fe radio talk show host and self-described "liberal Democrat" Richard Eeds commented;
I don't agree with this apologetic and excuse perspective and I never have. Every time they say that "we are working on improvements" and "just give us more time," I always want to ask don't you think the other 49 states continue towards improvement too? Or do you think that they just stop trying to help their kids improve outcomes after their 49th? There is no plan. It's a pure stall.
The switch to progressive leadership in the Legislature and sometime progressive leadership in the Governor's office has so far failed to stop the state from numbing itself, admit the pain of failure and commit to real change.
THE BOTTOM LINES
Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make an appearance in ABQ Saturday. We reported this week on how his campaign is working to get over 3,500 petition signatures by June 27 that are required for him to make the NM presidential ballot. From the campaign:
Join Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Drew Pinsky at the premier of “Recovering America” a documentary revealing the most promising solutions to the nation's drug addiction crisis.
A live panel discussion including Kennedy and moderated by Dr. Drew will follow the screening.
The event will go from 2:00-4:30 p.m. MT.
Doors open at 1:00 p.m. MT. at the
Kiva Auditorium in ABQ.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2024