Lawmakers send education bills to House

SANTA FE — After a lively Senate welcomed special guests — actress Jennifer Garner and former Maryland legislator Mark Shriver — to the Roundhouse Thursday morning, lawmakers sent along two educational measures to the House.

Senate Bill 137 would modify rules for school boards, including mandated training hours and updated campaign finance reporting requirements, and Senate Bill 153 would add another $95 million to the early childhood education and care program fund in fiscal year 2025.

Both measures passed with similar votes, largely with Democrats supporting the measures and Republicans in opposition.

School board requirements

On a 30-9 vote, the Senate passed SB 137, a bill that's garnered support from lawmakers as well as on-the-ground public education administrators.

"Having school board members who are adequately trained in school finance and budget, policies and procedures, and curriculum will better serve the districts they were elected to," Cobre Consolidated School District board President Gabrielle Begay said in a written statement. "We want our children to be top performers in the classroom, and it needs to start at the top."

SB 137 would require all school board candidates — not just those in the few districts with 12,000-plus students — to report campaign contributions and expenditures.

Under the bill, new board members would be required to receive 10 hours of training in their first year, and sitting members would also need to spend five hours per year in training.

Boards would also be barred from firing their superintendent without cause or extending their contract between a school board election and 60 days after a newly elected panel's first meeting.

The bill didn't pass quietly.

Some Republican lawmakers spoke against the bill, expressing concerns about state government overreach, encroachment of local control and the creation of unnecessary mandates.

"The training requirement ... that's an issue that should be decided within the district. And hiring and firing issues — let's face it, that's what the school board is for," Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen said. "... So we're going to now put a limitation on what they can and cannot do in regards to hiring the professional that runs all the schools? That's just Santa Fe pulling the power out of the people's hands once again."

Bill sponsor Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said SB 137 doesn't strip boards of their hiring or firing duties, and is about getting board members trained who may not think they need it.

"This isn't a new idea. This isn't from me, this isn't from Santa Fe, this is to upgrade the governance structures around school boards," she said.

Early childhood funding

It was a much quicker debate to pass Senate Bill 153, which is an effort to boost the amount of money in the early childhood education and care program fund. The Senate passed the legislation by a vote of 31-7.

The legislation would increase the fund by $95 million, from a projected $155 million to $250 million in fiscal year 2025, according to the bill's fiscal impact report.

Bill sponsor Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, D-Silver City, said this would allow for increased investments in child care assistance, including child and maternal health services, doula and lactation support home visiting, prekindergarten expansion and copay restructuring.

After fiscal year 2025, appropriations from the fund would be $250 million, or equal to the greater of 5% of the average of the fund's end-of-year market values for the three previous calendar years.

Any unspent program fund revenue goes back to the trust fund at the end of each fiscal year.

Responding to questions from Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, Correa Hemphill said the fund started at $300 million in 2021 and is now at $5 billion. Muñoz said the state needs to invest wisely with so much money and start looking at investments in other areas, too, like higher education or Medicaid.

"Who's next? Where do we divert the money next?" he said.