New Mexico K-12 (preliminary) data indicate stagnant education results
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican preliminary state testing data show “stagnant” results. As the article begins:
Student achievement data from the past school year is out — and it’s more of the same.
Reading proficiency for students in New Mexico public schools is stagnant at 38% and math proficiency is down two percentage points to 22%, according to test data from the end of the 2023-24 school year.
This MAY be a surprise to Gov. Lujan Grisham and her accumulated total of 5 Public Education Department secretaries, but it is no surprise to us. After all, New Mexico’s education system struggled before COVID. The Gov. locked students out of school for over a year during COVID. That caused students whose families COULD leave to leave New Mexico or its government school system. And, in the wake of COVID New Mexico’s education system has remained largely as it was before with no significant improvements made (as were adopted in numerous other states).
We expect the NAEP results to be released later this year or at the beginning of 2025. Will New Mexico remain dead last in ALL FOUR categories once again?
As the following chart from Mountain States Policy Center highlights 29 US states have some form of private school choice. Sadly, New Mexico is not one of them. Notably, there are 187 studies on the impact of educational choice and the results are overwhelming in their support for choice having a positive impact on student outcomes.
Will New Mexico EVER turn its education system around? Not until parents, not the unions, exert control over what happens in our schools.
