New Mexico now spends $13,227 per pre-K child enrolled

According to a new report from New Mexico’s LESC, the State of New Mexico’s LESC. 

Check out the following charts directly from the report linked above. Increasing numbers of 3 and 4 year-olds are enrolled in New Mexico. At the same time spending per-child has ramped up dramatically. In 2023-24 State spending totaled $212,888,058, up $107,488,625 (102%), adjusted for inflation, from the prior year. On a per-pupil basis New Mexico spends about as much as tuition at a top private high school.

What will New Mexico get for this spending? There’s no telling. New Mexicans have been pouring money into pre-K for 20 years without any compelling increase in student outcomes. The State remains dead last nationally in education. The best randomized control study of pre-K outcomes found WORSE results with pre-K.