Dear New Mexicans,
There continue to be many issues of concern in our public schools. We organize a group of 200+ NM teachers, so we're hearing first-hand from teachers about what is happening in NM classrooms and how the overall system is hindering education.
At our recent meeting of teachers and educators from Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Farmington, Las Cruces, and Santa Fe, we discussed trends that we're seeing in districts across the state. Scroll below for information about the following:
Failing academics in NM schools
Classroom behavior issues and violence
Threats of violence being made against schools
How "Inclusion" is hindering education
FAILING ACADEMICS IN NM SCHOOLS
NEW NM high school proficiency rankings have been released for 2024. New Mexico is ranked LAST in the Nation in education, and it shows.
In some districts, only 25% of kids are proficient in reading and less than 10% are proficient in math!
See below for proficiencies for some high schools in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. You can explore the data for al NM schools here: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=new-mexico&ranked=true
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AND VIOLENCE
Behavior issues are increasing over time, year-over-year. Behavior issues disrupt the whole class and prevent teachers from being able to teach effectively.
Several teachers are seeing an increase in the number of kids who have disabilities, autism, and learning problems. For instance, in one district, there are usually 1-2 autistic kindergarteners (across 4 classes) but this year there are 7 autistic kindergarteners.
Behavior issues include violence such as hitting students and teachers, throwing chairs and pencils, spitting, etc. These issues are prevalent in Kindergarten and early elementary grades.
One teacher's Kindergarten class has 3 students who have extreme behavior problems. The other students in the class now cringe and cower in fear after having been hit/attacked by other students so often.
Fights in school are common in some districts.
Greater numbers of students are starting Kindergarten that haven't yet been potty-trained.
Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) get away with a lot more. In some districts, students with IEP's cannot be given grades less than 75%. This is unfair to the other students and a disservice to the IEP students as well.
Teachers are being required to document behaviors for at least 6 weeks before changes can be made such as moving students to a different class.
Some teachers have been told not to worry about teaching, that the kids will catch up next year, so to just focus on dealing with the behaviors.
THREATS OF VIOLENCE
Several districts are seeing increased numbers of threats this school year.
Threats of school violence are being made on social media. For instance, in Farmington there was a threat posted to social media that a fire alarm would be pulled and students would then be shot when they were exiting the building.
In some districts the threats are coming from students. In some districts the source of the threats haven't been able to be determined.
In Las Cruces, two boys were found with firearms on school grounds. There have also been adolescent girls making threats on social media.
Threats are impacting school attendance and many parents are scared.
HOW "INCLUSION" IS HINDERING EDUCATION
There appears to be an increasing trend across multiple districts of "inclusion" being prioritized such that students are kept in classes even if they have significant behavior problems.
Disabled students and students with learning disabilities are also more often being kept in the general classes instead of put into special education classes.
These students are then disrupting class and making it much more difficult for teachers to actually teach the class.
In some districts, there is a shortage of speech therapists and SPED teachers.
HOW MORE TEACHERS CAN GET INVOLVED
Our NM teachers group serves as a resource for educators across NM to collaborate towards improving educational outcomes.
Teachers who want to join this group can contact Sarah Smith by emailing: sarah@nmfa.us
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