Sen. Heinrich and New Mexico’s failing education status quo
It amazes me that ANYONE can defend New Mexico’s status quo in education. Gov. Martinez (who to be fair has attempted SOME reforms) touted the supposed “success” of her education reforms in the State of the State address earlier this year.
Recently, (and more problematically) as part of his efforts to preserve the status quo in education, Sen. Heinrich refused to support the reform-minded DeVos and tweeted the following:
I cannot support a nominee who wants to weaken the kinds of public schools that New Mexicans rely on. #NoOnDeVos
— Martin Heinrich (@MartinHeinrich) February 7, 2017
Unfortunately, as almost any data on the issue show, New Mexico’s education system is in dire need of being shaken up and reformed. The latest NAEP reading scores (from 2015), for example, ranked New Mexico an astonishing 52nd (behind the District of Columbia and DoD schools). 4th grade reading is extremely important. Unfortunately, both the Democrat majorities in the Legislature and New Mexico’s senators in Washington are status quo when it comes to education (which reigns supreme even in the local school board elections that just took place).
Alas, while New Mexicans love to talk about getting out of 50th (or 51st or even 52nd), they vote like they are happy to be at the bottom. See the sad map showing NM clocking in at 52nd in 4th grade reading:
