Recent Developments: No new developments.
Click here for detailed information on New Mexico's public school system and see below for school choice contacts and a history of school choice legislation in New Mexico.
State Contacts
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Christian Association of Parent Educators- NM
914 Fifth Street Las Vegas, NM 87701-4332 Phone: (505) 898-8548 Fax: (505) 294-7582 Website: www.cape-nm.org E-mail: info@cape-nm.org |
Educate New Mexico
Troy Williamson, Executive Director P.O. Box 794 Albuquerque, NM 87103 Phone: (505) 797-4002 Fax: (505) 797-1984 Website: www.educateNM.org E-mail: tdwilli@educatenm.org |
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New Mexico State CAPE
Ms. Honeyfield Linda, President NM Association of Nonpublic Schools P. O. Box 14865 Albuquerque, NM 87191-4865 Phone: 505-255-6391 Fax: 505-268-3279 E-mail: ldhoney@clearwire.net |
Rio Grande Foundation
Paul J. Gessing, President P.O. Box 40336 Albuquerque, NM 87196 Phone: 505-264-6090 Fax: 505-213-0300 Website: www.riograndefoundation.org E-mail: PGessing@RioGrandeFoundation.org; info@RioGrandeFoundation.org |
Archived History, Pre-2006
In 1997, then-Governor
In 1999, the legislature replaced
Governor Johnson twice vetoed the state budget in 1999 in part because it did not include desired education reform provisions, such as voucher plans or tax credits. The governor advocated a program that would have provided vouchers worth approximately $3,200 for students to attend any public, charter, private, or religious school of choice.[4]
Governor Johnson signed H.B. 753, a charter school amendment, on April 6, 2001. This bill limited the provision of transportation for students to and from charter schools to a radius of 10 miles from the school's location.[5]
Several tax credit bills were introduced during the 2001 session. H.B. 422, the Tuition Scholarship Tax Credit, would have provided tax credits of up to $500 for donations toward tuition scholarships for low-income students (but would not have allowed the donor to designate a particular student as a recipient of the scholarship). H.B. 421 would have established a refundable tax credit for families at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. H.B. 420 would have established a tax credit of up to $500 for home-schooling families. All of these bills died in committee.[6]
Voucher legislation was also introduced in 2001. H.B. 503, the Children's Educational Guarantee Act, would have given vouchers to students in failing schools. S.B. 414, the Opportunity Scholarship Act, would have authorized scholarships for children in kindergarten.[7] These bills also died in committee.
Several school choice bills were introduced in 2002. The Parental Choice Act, H.B. 319, was introduced to establish a school voucher program for low-income students in urban areas with populations of more than 400,000. Under this legislation, students using vouchers would have to take a standardized state proficiency test. S.B. 415 and S.B. 301 would have authorized income tax credits of up to $500 annually for contributions to scholarship organizations.[8] S.B. 301 lost a committee vote, and the other two bills died in committee.
Two bills that would have allowed tax deductions for parents of home and private school students died in 2003. S.B. 97 would have allowed home-schooling parents to take a deduction of up to $3,500.[9] H.B. 868 would have allowed parents of home or private school students to deduct $1,000 from their taxable income.[10] Both bills died in committee.[11]
A tuition tax credit bill, S.B. 237, was introduced in 2003. Under this legislation, individuals contributing to a scholarship organization could have received a tax credit of up to $500 and would have been allowed to earmark their donation so that it directly benefited a specified student, including a dependent. This bill also died in committee.[12]
H.B. 212 was signed into law in 2003. This bill changes the state's open enrollment law to require schools to give students in the schools' attendance zone first priority for enrollment, followed by students seeking to transfer from schools in need of improvement.[13]
In 2003-2004 Educate
Several bills pertaining to charter schools were introduced in 2004. H.B. 404 and S.B. 403 would require that school districts provide charter schools with facilities at no cost to the charter if there is no cost to the district. S.B. 403 stalled in the state Senate Finance Committee and H.B. 404 stalled after passing in the House (52-13).[15]
Also in 2004, H.B. 554 was introduced by Richard D. Virgil (D-70) and would have made charter schools independent of public school districts and given them more freedom in the management of their budgets.[16] The bill stalled in the House Education Committee. Its companion bill, S.B. 521, passed in the Senate but was not considered in the House.[17]
S.B. 475 was introduced by Mark Biotano (R-18) in 2004 to give chartering authority to the state department of education. The bill stalled in committee.[18]
A voucher bill was introduced in the 2004 session that would create a pilot program. S.B. 300 proposes that students from families at or below the poverty line receive a voucher covering the cost of attending a public or private school of choice. The proposed pilot program would last four years. The bill stalled in committee.[19]
Two important school choice bills were introduced in 2005. The first, H.B. 1101, extends the charter district status of the
The second bill, H.B. 337, creates a pilot voucher program for pre-kindergarten students in low-income areas. Students can attend public or private schools using the vouchers.[21] Governor Richardson signed the legislation on April 5.[22]
[1] Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, "Charter Schools: Early Learnings Insights," Insights on Education Policy, Practice, and Research, No. 5, July 1995.
[2] "New Mexico Governor Calls for School Choice," School Reform News, January 1998.
[3] See "New Mexico Charter School Information" at www.uscharterschools.org/pub/sp/6.
[4] "Johnson Aims to Sway Public,"
[5] New Mexico Legislature, 2001 Regular Session, H.B. 753, at http://legis.state.nm.us/session01.asp?chamber=H&type=++&number=753&Submit=Search.
[6] See National School Boards Association Web site at www.nsba.org/novouchers.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Home School Legal Defense Association, "Senate Bill 97: Income Tax Deduction for Homeschools," March 21, 2003, at www.hslda.org/Legislation/State/nm/2003/NVSB97/default.asp.
[10] Home School Legal Defense Association, "House Bill 868: Income Tax Deduction for Homeschools and Private Schools," March 21, 2003, at www.hslda.org/Legislation/State/nm/2003/NVHB868/default.asp.
[11] See
[12] New Mexico Legislature, 2003 Regular Session, S.B. 237, at http://legis.state.nm.us/session03.asp?chamber=S&type=++&number=237&Submit=Search.
[13] Education Commission of the States, "Recent State Policies/Activities: Open Enrollment," at www.ecs.org/ecs/ecscat.nsf/Web2003?OpenView&Count=-1&RestrictToCategory=Open+Enrollmentand See
[14] Laura J. Swartley, "Friedman Report Profile: Troy Williamson of 8 New Mexico," School Reform News, The Heartland Institute, January 1, 2004, at www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14061.
[15] New Mexico State Legislature, H.B. 404, at http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/04%20Regular/bills/house/HB0404.html.
[16] New Mexico State Legislature, H.B. 554, at http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/04%20Regular/bills/house/HB0554.html.
[17] New Mexico State Legislature, S.B. 521, at http://legis.state.nm.us/newsite/_session.asp?chamber=S&type=++&number=521&Submit=Search&year=04.
[18] New Mexico State Legislature, S.B. 475, at http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/04%20Regular/bills/senate/SB0475.html.
[19] New Mexico State Legislature, S.B. 300, at http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/04%20Regular/bills/senate/SB0300.html.
[20] Gary Herron, "Governor Signs Charter School Bill Here," The Rio Rancho Observer, April 13, 2005 and New Mexico Legislature, 2005 Session, H.B. 1101, available at athttp://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/_session.asp?chamber=H&type=++&number=1101&year=05.
[21] New Mexico Legislature, 2005 Session, H.B. 337, available at http://legis.state.nm.us:8080/lcsbillsearch/session.jsp?year=2005R&type=B&chamber=H&number=337and Alliance for School Choice, "National School Choice Momentum Grows," Press Release, March 25, 2005.
[22] New Mexico Office of the Governor, "Legislative Action," available atwww.governor.state.nm.us/legislative.php?mm=3.
