I like Gov. Martinez. She hasn’t raised taxes. She’s supported things like “Right to Work” and accountability in education. Unlike her predecessor she hasn’t saddled New Mexico with vanity projects like the Rail Runner and Spaceport. More importantly, she got elected Governor of a blue state…twice.
And that’s probably the biggest difference between her and a think tank CEO.
In her State of the State address yesterday, Martinez was relentlessly upbeat about both the economy and New Mexico’s education system. I just don’t see it. I actually agree with Democrat Sen. Joseph Cervantes who said the “state of the state” was “unacceptable.”
What gives? Despite having a Republican Governor for six years and a Republican House for two years, New Mexico remains a very “blue” state that has NEVER had conservative governance (unlike more economically-prosperous “blue” states like Colorado or even California).
So, my State of the State speech would have gone something like this (and this is probably why I’m not governor):
New Mexico has the 2nd highest unemployment rate. Our young people are fleeing. Dependency on the government is growing (in part due to my decision to expand Medaid under ObamaCare…oops). And, most sadly, 2016 will be remembered for as a year in which unspeakable acts were done to our children and our already-high crime rates rose dramatically.
For two years I supported and the Republican House passed bills to reform New Mexico’s failing economy and broken education system, but we were stopped at every turn by the Democrat-controlled Senate. In their infinite wisdom last November, rather than ridding us of an obstructionist Senate, voters instead chose “more of the same.”
I’ll spend the next two years trying to prevent further damage to our economy with my veto pen, but once I’m gone “all bets are off.”
Good luck New Mexico, you’ll need it.
Very good, Paul.
Maybe you ought to run for Governor.
Sincerely,
Sylvia Bokor
Awesome speech. That’s what should have been said.
Very good, Paul.
Maybe you ought to run for Governor.
Sincerely,
Sylvia Bokor
Paul,
I wish you really knew how much Martinez has hurt the education system and continues to do so. You should look into what’s currently going on and see. That would make a great article.
All school districts in New Mexico recently had to send all our unspent money to the state at the Governor’s request due to a low state budget. Our district alone sent up over 7 million dollars. There is no paper for teachers/students, other than what we were given at the beginning of the year and once we are out of ink for the printers, there is no money to replace it. Everything that we need for our classrooms we are going to have to pay for out of our pockets or simply do without. There is no money for field trips including buses, etc.
I teach in a school where the income per household is so low all kids qualify for free breakfast and lunch because of our percentages. They often come in without supplies themselves because education is not their family’s number one priority. Survival is. Many don’t have enough money for food and have lots of family drama. Many parents in this area are incarcerated for a variety of reasons, and come from that same background. Of course, teachers get blamed for those kids low performance scores.
There is a proposal for a cigarette tax on Martinez’ desk that would keep all districts in the state from having to severely cut jobs next year, that even includes the universities, and we are being told she is going to veto it. Many educators will lose their jobs and class sizes for those who are allowed to stay are going to drastically increase, making it much harder to educate children. Of course, all the fine arts are once again on the chopping block, dramatically decreasing students getting a well rounded education despite years of research that shows kids involved in fine arts perform better in all academics areas.
Not only is Martinez NOT trying to help our educational system, she is doing her best to run off all good teachers to states where they are not severely mistreated. She is trying to kill education in this state. Don’t believe her rhetoric pertaining to the betterment of education because the opposite is true. Don’t believe me? Ask any educator/administrator who is in the trenches and knows first hand.
I am writing in response to your posting on our blog regarding Gov. Martinez and education spending.
For starters, we put these two charts together using Census data (linked in the post).
New Mexico spends more per pupil than any of its neighbors and administration is where our state really stands out. It isn’t the Gov. that is “screwing” NM’s teachers, it is all the bureaucrats in the main offices downtown. APS here in Albuquerque is notorious for this, but I believe many rural areas suffer from similar issues on a smaller scale.
In terms of the other issues you cite, we have a lot of economic and cultural issues in this State. Dependency is the watchword here and quite frankly I believe that Martinez missed some opportunities, but was also opposed at every turn by Democrats in the Legislature. Cultural change is also very difficult and slow. Alas, New Mexico isn’t even moving in the right direction on this front. Dependency (and therefore poverty) is worsening.
Solving these issues is difficult. I can only imagine your frustration. I don’t blame teachers. It is the system that is holding us all back, but I just don’t see people in this state willing to stand up and change.
wow you have a lot of words to say about Suzana Martenez and I agree.
you could become a person who argues about stuff.I listen to that on the radio and I think you could do better than the preson who dose it.:) rock on