Bond question 3 (higher education) requires particular scrutiny

Statewide bond question 3 on New Mexicans’ ballots will, if adopted, pour $216 million into higher education. RGF was quoted in this article. It is by far the largest statewide bond on the ballot and, if adopted, would mark the sixth consecutive statewide election that voters signed off on tens of millions of dollars for projects at public colleges and universities.

How much is enough? The only way we’ll ever know is if voters say “no.”

Ironically, UNM’s former president Chaouki Abdallah back in 2017 made it clear (even before MLG’s “free” college plan that, “Our higher ed spending is more than most other states; the trouble is we don’t spend it wisely and (we) spread it across so many entities. We do need a plan.”

Abdallah went on to say, “UNM has these spires of excellence, best in the world or top five, but like everything else around this state, the average is bad because you have to make sure everyone is taken care of.”

Even prior to free college, New Mexico was among the biggest-spending states on higher education with little to show for it.