Here’s How We’ll Keep the Promise for New Mexico’s Future:
Restore revenues for quality education.
- Reinstate the 8 percent tax rate on the richest New Mexicans to help fund education. In 2003, New Mexico’s lawmakers cut taxes for the richest New Mexicans at a time when everyone else was suffering the pain of the economic crisis. Our students depend on all of us paying our fair share of state income taxes. As unemployment increases, our lawmakers are cutting education again while the wealthiest continue to benefit from this tax cut. It’s time to reinstate the 8 percent tax rate on the richest New Mexicans.
- Protect the Permanent School Fund payout to our schools. New Mexico’s Permanent School Fund (also called the Land Grant Permanent Fund) is a critical source of funding for our schools. Without legislative action, the amount paid to our schools will decrease considerably. The payout to our schools must be increased to adequately fund education.
- Close the corporate loophole to help fund education. New Mexico is one of the few states that does not require Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Starbucks and other out-of-state corporations to pay state income taxes on profits earned in New Mexico. New Mexico’s home-owned businesses are required to pay taxes on their profits to fund education. Wal-Mart and other out-of-state corporations should also pay their fair share for the development of New Mexico’s workforce.
Improve learning outcomes for our children.
- Implement a teacher development and evaluation system that ties teacher evaluation and compensation to multiple measures, including student learning. Even as schools are being asked to do more with less, we cannot lose sight of our quest to make our schools great. We must make sure that our teachers have the feedback and tools to continuously help them get better. By implementing a new, innovative and comprehensive teacher development and evaluation system, we will ensure the success of both our students and educators.
- Improve the preparation and training of early childhood educators. The research clearly shows that a high-quality early childhood education can make a huge impact on a child’s success, especially for our neediest students. New Mexico must increase its investment in a statewide system of professional development where early childhood educators and centers can connect and access quality training opportunities. We should focus on establishing an Early Educators Registry, and join the 36 other states that have such a system.