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By Mo Charnot
For NMEducation.com

The New Mexico Public Education Department has updated its student achievement data reporting website — NM Vistas — with a renovated layout and school performance data from the 2023-2024 academic year, with expectations for additional information to be released in January 2025. 

NM Vistas is crucial to informing New Mexicans about school performance and progress at the school, district and state levels through yearly report cards. The site displays student reading, math and science proficiency rates taken from state assessments, as required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Districts and schools receive scores between 0 and 100 based on performance, and schools also receive designations indicating the level of support the school requires to improve.

Other information on the site includes graduation rates, attendance and student achievement growth. Data also shows rates among specific student demographics, including race, gender, disability, economic indicators and more. 

PED Deputy Secretary of Teaching, Learning and Innovation, Amanda DeBell told NM Education in an interview that this year’s recreation of the NM Vistas site came from a desire to go beyond the state’s requirements for school performance data.

“We knew that New Mexico VISTAs had a ton of potential to be a tool that our communities could use,” DeBell said. 

One new data point added to NM Vistas this year is early literacy rates, which measures the percentage of students in grades K-2 who are reading proficiently at their grade level. Currently, federal law only requires proficiency rates for grades 3-8 to be published, and New Mexico also publishes 11th grade SAT scores. In the 2023-2024 school year, 34.6% of students grades K-2 were proficient in reading, the data says.

DeBell said several advisory groups encouraged the PED to report early literacy data through NM Vistas.

“We were missing some key data-telling opportunities by not publishing the early literacy [rates] on our website, so we made a real effort to get those early literacy teachers the kudos that they deserve by demonstrating the scores,” DeBell said.

The PED also added data on individual schools through badges indicating specific programs and resources the school offers. For example, Ace Leadership High School in Albuquerque has two badges: one for being a community school offering wraparound services to students and families, and another for qualifying for the career and technical education-focused Innovation Zone program.

“What we are really trying to do is provide a sort of one-stop shopping for families and community members to highlight all of the work that schools are doing,” DeBell said.

The updated NM Vistas website has removed a few things as well, most notably the entire 2021-2022 NM Vistas data set. DeBell said this was because the PED changed the way it measured student growth data, which resulted in the 2021-2022 school year’s data being incomparable to the most recent two years. 

“You could not say that the schools in 2021-2022 were doing the same as 2022-2023 or 2023-2024, because the mechanism for calculating their scores was different,” DeBell said.

However, this does leave NM Vistas with less data overall, only allowing viewers to compare scores from the latest data set to last year’s. 

In January 2025, several new indicators are expected to be uploaded to the site, including:

  • Student performance levels: Reports the percentage of students who are novices, nearing proficiency, proficient and advanced in reading, math and science at each school, rather than only separating between proficient and not proficient.
  • Results for The Nation’s Report Card (also known as NAEP): Compares student proficiencies between US states.
  • Educator qualifications: DeBell said this would include information on individual schools’ numbers of newer teachers, substitute teachers covering vacancies and more.
  • College enrollment rates: only to be statewide numbers indicating the percentage of New Mexico students attending college after graduating, but DeBell said she later hopes the PED can narrow down by each K-12 school.
  • Per-pupil spending: How much money each school, district and the state spends per-student on average. 
  • School climate: Links the viewer to results of school climate surveys asking students, parents and teachers how they feel about their school experience.
  • Alternate assessment participation: Percentage of students who take a different assessment in place of the NM-MSSA or SAT.

“We want VISTAs to be super, super responsive, and we want families to be able to use this and get good information,” DeBell said. “We will continue to evolve this until it’s at its 100th iteration, if it takes that much.”

This year, the PED released statewide assessment results for the 2023-2024 school year to NM Vistas on Nov. 15. Results show 39% of New Mexico students are proficient in reading, 23% are proficient in math and 38% are proficient in science. Compared to last year’s scores, reading proficiency increased by 1%, math proficiency decreased by 1% and science proficiency increased by 4%.

By Mo CharnotFor NMEducation.com The New Mexico Public

News

By Kenn Rodriguez
For NMEducation.com

Halloween 2024 is a holiday that won’t be soon forgotten by Bernalillo High School teacher Lorilei Chavez. You see, October 31 was the day she was honored as the first Indigenous teacher named New Mexico Teacher of the Year.

Sixth period was going as usual for Lorilei and her social studies class. The group was in the middle of a lesson when BHS principal, Alyssa Sanchez-Padilla, and her secretary came to the door with an urgent request: Bring your students to the school’s black box theater to bump up attendance for a guest speaker.

“And so, you know, as a teacher, I’m like, ‘Oh no, we’re in the middle of a lesson,’” she related. “You know, I don’t want to lose valuable teaching time. But if the principal is asking you to take your students somewhere, you know, you get going.”

As she walked with her students to the theater and the seventh-period bell rang, her principal asked to detour to sign some tutoring paperwork. While walking, Chavez noticed a few extra student resource officers. 

“Like I was getting kind of like an inclination that something was going on, you know?” she said, noting she was dressed in 1980s style for Halloween, with a side ponytail and an off-the-shoulder shirt.

Still thinking there was a guest speaker, Lorelei came to the theater and saw the “shimmer of cheerleading pompoms” and a huge cheer erupted as she entered the room. Assuming the cheer was for the “guest,” she got a bit spooked and started to back out of the room, she said.

“My principal was behind me and she just put her hands on my shoulders and softly nudged me forward,” she recalled. “I saw my mom and rushed over to her. Then she points up at the ceiling and there was this huge banner that says ‘Lorelei Chavez, Teacher of the Year.’”

“And that’s when it all just hit and took me over. And then it went from joy, like surprise to joy to like pure happy tears,” she said. 

“It’s a life moment I’ll never forget.”

From Bernalillo and back

Lorilei describes herself as a “very proud product of Bernalillo Public Schools.” Beginning with kindergarten near home on the Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo Pueblo), she spent all but one year of her young life in the BPS system, beginning with Santo Domingo School and ending with graduation from Bernalillo High in 2008.

“It’s funny because I remember being in high school thinking, ‘Oh, I want to go as far as I can. Like, I want to go to school in California. I want to go to college in Washington, D.C. And I don’t want to come back to Bernalillo,’” she recalled with a chuckle. “And then six years later, I ended up (substitute teaching) while going to college. I’ve been there ever since.”

Beginning her college career at Central New Mexico Community College, Lorilei got her basics taken care of before transferring to the University of New Mexico. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in Native American Studies and a minor in History. Though she started as an education major and shifted away, her experiences as a substitute convinced her to go through CNM’s Alternative Licensure program, which she finished in 2020.

“When I started subbing as I was going to (UNM), I realized that I had a really deep ability to connect with students on a level that maybe some of my colleagues weren’t able to,” she said. “Because our district is 48% Indigenous, a lot of the students that I worked with didn’t really have Indigenous teachers or teacher aides or even substitutes that looked like them.”

Since the Bernalillo school system works with seven different tribes, Lorilei said she feels it’s important that Native students have Indigenous role models in the school setting. She used simple examples, like seeing her dressed in Native regalia or “big Native earrings” and beaded medallions to honor Native heritage.

“I think that’s what allowed me to see that I would be a good educator,” she said. “I would have an impact on students if I did a shift and got my teacher certification.

“And so that I think is my main drive even to today, is my ability to connect with students, uplift them, hear their voices, allow them to feel seen in the classroom, which I think creates the motivation to continue their goals and succeed in whatever they’re trying to accomplish.”

Serving her community 

Lorilei said being named the first Indigenous teacher to win the statewide Teacher of the Year award was obviously an honor. But because “a core value of Pueblo people is the idea of service,” she said she feels that she is representing more than herself in accepting the award. 

“As I serve my community, I wake up every day knowing that I’m going to serve my students, my future generations as I represent Santo Domingo Pueblo,” she said. “I wake up every day thinking, ‘What impact am I going to make on my community and what impact am I able to make today on the future generation?’ So, winning an award like this has been really hard for me to accept and value the honor. Because I feel it doesn’t just belong to me. It comes from a community of educators that has raised me and taught me.”

With her Native American Studies background, she said she strives to balance Indigenous culture and Western education in a school setting.

“The people, the past EAs, the language teachers, the teachers who’ve taught me that have poured into my education, I think is what brought me to today,” Lorilei said. “With this title and this beautiful award, I’m able to bring home not only Santo Domingo but to the Bernalillo Public Schools. I think the pressure of being the first Indigenous Teacher of the Year is making sure I’m honoring not only my school but my students and the community that I come from.”

‘Indigenizing’ the Education System

Lorilei said that as Teacher of the Year, she will emphasize “Indigenizing” education in New Mexico, as well as supporting teachers’ mental health. The desire to bring more Native experiences, stories, and perspectives into public education is something that grew from her time in the UNM Native Studies program.

“Going to (UNM’s) Native American studies program as a college student really opened my mind to this understanding of needing to know your culture, your history, the laws and the narrative that existed in Native community,” she said. “Things that weren’t necessarily told in the history books that I studied or in the papers that I wrote. Things not in the curriculum that I was offered as a public school student.”

“So graduating from UNM NAS instilled this understanding that going back into the public schools that I work at… I had no choice but an obligation to encourage our district and hold our district accountable when adopting curriculums and encouraging Native history in the core curriculum,” she concluded.

Lorilei said she and her fellow educators in the Bernalillo Public Schools “are blessed” to have a district leadership that understands the equity and value of bringing in Native languages and history as a core content. 

She also said she feels very fortunate for the opportunity to work in a district that allows her the opportunity to build a curriculum that includes Indigenous history – subjects like the Pueblo Revolt, boarding schools, Native removal, sovereignty and decolonization, in a “school building that was not necessarily built for Indigenous education but built for Western education.”

“As the first Indigenous teacher of the year, I feel like that also is my obligation and duty, is to work to continue to advocate, to educate, so that we can uplift Native narrative, history, stories in curriculum,” she said. “Not just in high student of color populations, but in districts across the state. 

“It is a passion of mine to Indigenize education and bring Indigenous perspective in Western curriculum. And so that’s something that I’m going to really push toward and be passionate about and continue to advocate for moving forward,” she related.

Prioritizing balance for teachers

Lorilei also said she is “super passionate” about state leadership and school districts starting a movement around prioritizing teacher mental health. She said she plans to “really pour some energy in as Teacher of the Year.” As a teacher working at the high school level, she said implementing teaching materials and testing guides, and “doing all the things that I need to do as a teacher to be the best teacher” leaves her drained at times. 

“Balancing all of that with my life and my culture and everything that I am as a human being, an auntie, a sister, a cousin, is very difficult,” she said. “I really think as a state and as a nation, we really need to take a deeper look into how we are healing our teachers. How are we showing up for them in capacities that include mental wellness? And that includes body health and that includes spiritual strength in whatever capacity that they connect to.”

She concluded: “My goal and my hope is to really work with school districts, including mine, to have wellness days, wellness fairs, professional development days where teachers are paid to take time to take care of their mental health… because we’re so spread thin from the many, many things we have to do as educators. 

“I’d really like to see us looking at an innovative way to address teacher wellness in ways that maybe the state and the nation haven’t before.”

The New Mexico Teacher of the Year program is sponsored by The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. The award of $ 10,000 will go to Lorilei to help with professional development opportunities and support her travel needs.

By Kenn RodriguezFor NMEducation.com Halloween 2024 is a

News

Last year’s Albuquerque Public Schools third-graders identified in the Yazzie-Martinez decision plus African American students fell short of the reading proficiency goal set by the district in its first year of concerted progress monitoring under a new strategic plan, according to a report released earlier this month.

APS administrators pointed out during an October 2 school board meeting that these third-graders, identified in the Yazzie-Martinez decision plus African Americans, were kindergarteners during the Covid-19 pandemic, and spent much of that formative year learning online, which served them poorly.

The review is part of the district’s plan to monitor progress towards the four goals adopted by the APS Board of Education in 2023, aligned with the district’s new Emerging Stronger Strategic Plan. Each of the four goals have interim goals that serve as indicators of progress.

Goal One of the district’s four overarching goals calls for a 10 percentage-point increase in reading proficiency among that group of third-graders between 2023 and 2028. The interim goal for spring of 2024 was to raise the rate from 2023’s 27.3 to 28.3.

Instead, last year’s third-graders actually slipped to a proficiency rate of 25.3.

The district is still devising individualized strategies to catch kids up, officials told board members.

“Strategic measures moving forward can be summarized by the word specificity,” Antonio Gonzales, deputy superintendent of leadership and learning told the board. This means getting detailed in determining what different subgroups need, for example special education and English language learners students need, and how to provide for those needs.

“We know that we have a strategy in place, and that’s great. And I believe in the strategy that we have in place. But what this strategy calls us to action on is being specific and specific by student,” Gonzales said.

APS has not modified its five-year goal, but now predicts that the current year’s proficiency rate for identified third-graders will be 26.6 percent, rather than the 29.3 percent that would keep the district on track to meet the ultimate goal.

The board also heard reports on two sub-goals, where the news was decidedly better.

Interim Goal 1.1 focuses on the reading proficiency rates of first graders as measured by Istation formative assessments given at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. “This interim assessment gives teachers real-time insights into each student’s reading abilities to help inform instruction and provide intervention,” said a slide presentation produced by the district.

The three-year target for Interim Goal 1.1 is to increase the proficiency rate of first graders in the targeted groups by six percentage points—from 17 percent in 2023 to 23 percent in 2026. Students significantly exceeded that goal last school year, ending the year with a 24.1 percent proficiency rate.

Interim Goal 1.2 has a three-year target of increasing the percentage of second-grade students identified in the Yazzie-Martinez decision plus African American students who demonstrate grade level proficiency or above as predicted by Istation from 18.3% in May 2023 to 24.3% in May 2026.

By the end of last school year, 26.3 percent of those students were proficient.

If these trends hold, it will suggest that the performance of last year’s third-graders was a Covid-related aberration, and that students on the grades that follow are performing significantly better.

Last year’s Albuquerque Public Schools third-graders identified

News

Last month on September 19, the Public Education Department presented to the Legislative Education Study Committee slide decks showing preliminary, high-level results of the state’s spring assessments, promising that detailed data would be forthcoming soon thereafter.

A month has passed and the PED has released nothing further. No district- or school-level data files or presentations. Not even a press release. The school year is one-quarter over and the public is being kept in the dark about the state of New Mexico’s schools?

Repeated outreach by New Mexico Education to the PED has been met with silence. The one PED data slide presented showed that statewide, there was incremental improvement in reading – from 38 percent proficient in 2023 to 39 percent proficient in 2024, a decline in math (from 24 percent proficient to 23 percent), and a three percentage-point increase in science (from 34 percent to 37 percent).

A companion presentation by LESC staff contained richer data, but also showed different proficiency rates than the PED deck – reading at 38 percent proficient and math down to 22 percent proficient.

The LESC deck also contained some graphs that merit a deeper dive, which is impossible unless and until PED releases the data files. For example, the achievement gaps between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students in English Language Arts closed significantly statewide. 

This occurred both because economically disadvantaged students’ ELA scores increased by five percentage-points (and nine percentage-points since 2022), and because more affluent students saw their ELA scores decline by five percentage-points.

Ideally, gaps should close because those on the lower end are making big gains, not because those at the higher end are dropping.

Without detailed data, it is not possible for researchers to dive in to determine why and where these changes are occurring.

National education researcher Chad Aldeman recently wrote on his Substack blog that this practice of hiding or delaying data has become a nationwide trend among state education departments.

“Here we are in pumpkin spice / decorative gourd season, and half the states still have not released their results yet,” Alderman wrote. “To put it colloquially, this is too damn slow! Summer is the key here—it’s the time when parents and educators could actually do something about the results. By the time fall rolls around, kids are already back in school and they’ve moved on to the next grade. Teachers have already written their lesson plans for the year….

…“When it comes to releasing their results, too many states are putting parents last,” Aldeman wrote. “This game of telephone is also unnecessary in today’s modern world. Most state assessments are now administered on computers and can be scored instantaneously. Private testing companies like the ACT and SAT promise to deliver results in 2-4 weeks.”

According to Aldeman’s research, last year the PED didn’t release its data until mid-November, which ranked New Mexico 45th out of the 50th states. 

Will this year be any different?

Last month on September 19, the Public

Quick Hits

Albuquerque Public schools board President Danielle Gonzales has been appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the Nation’s Report Card.

Gonzales is one of two new members appointed Oct. 1 by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. She has represented District 3 in Albuquerque’s North Valley since 2022.

Gonzales is a senior fellow at One Generation Fund and has previously worked at New Mexico First, the Aspen Institute, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She previously was a fourth-grade teacher.

“I am deeply honored to be selected to serve on the National Assessment Governing Board,” Gonzales said in a news release. “I look forward to contributing to the board, based on my background, experiences, and expertise, the ability to translate complex research into practical and relevant decisions. I have lived experience, as a bilingual person, Hispanic woman, parent, and product of the very public school system I now serve.”

Expected to be released in early 2025, the 2024 Nation’s Report Card will provide critical information about how education systems are helping students make up lost ground since 2022 and meet the standards and expectations necessary to succeed in school and beyond.

The nonpartisan 26-member Governing Board was established by Congress to set policy for the Nation’s Report Card. The board decides what grades and subjects to assess, content to include, and sets the NAEP achievement levels. It works with the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers NAEP, to release and disseminate results.

Albuquerque Public schools board President Danielle Gonzales

News

A new survey of more than 400 New Mexico parents of school-aged children shows widespread dissatisfaction with the state’s public schools, that communication gaps between schools and parents are a serious concern, and that many parents have misperceptions about their children’s academic achievement.

Results of the survey, “The State of Educational Opportunity in New Mexico,” were released Oct. 2 by NewMexicoKidsCAN, an education advocacy organization (and parent organization of New Mexico Education), focused on improving New Mexico’s public education system.

The state survey was part of a national report authored by 50CAN, of which NewMexicoKidsCan is an affiliate. 50CAN is “focused on building the future of American education,” according to the organization’s website. That 214-page report, “The State of Educational Opportunity in America” provides a deep, 50-state dive into parental views of public education in their home states.

Researchers surveyed more than 20,000 parents across the country, making it one of the largest education-focused surveys of parents in the past decade. This survey explores the ecosystem of educational opportunities inside and outside of school, and how they interrelate and impact a child’s success.

“With such a large sample size, we are able to dig into the findings by state and across a range of important audiences. By making the findings publicly available, this is a gift of data that can inform conversations among communities and elected officials.” said Pam Loeb, Principal at Edge Research.

The New Mexico survey provides insight into the educational opportunities available to children across New Mexico.

The New Mexico survey uncovered key findings, including:

  • Parental dissatisfaction is widespread: Only about a third of New Mexico parents say they are “very satisfied” with their child’s school. Nationally, 45 percent of parents reported high satisfaction. New Mexico was one of the lower-ranked states in terms of parental satisfaction.
  • Communication Gaps Between Schools and Parents: Only 29% of New Mexico parents report feeling extremely confident in understanding their child’s academic progress ranking New Mexico second to last in the nation. 
  • Misperceptions about Student Achievement: 41% of New Mexico parents believe their child is above grade level in reading, yet state assessments show only 39% of students are reading at grade level. 
  • Afterschool Programs Show Promise: New Mexico ranks 22nd nationally in student participation in supervised afterschool programs, surpassing 28 other states. This success is likely attributed to increased state investments through the Extended Learning Time Program, which may have boosted overall participation rates.

“This survey amplifies the voices of New Mexico parents,” said Amanda Aragon, Executive Director of NewMexicoKidsCAN. “The results reveal significant misperceptions about student performance, serious communication gaps between schools and parents, and widespread concerns about school satisfaction. 

“It’s clear that many parents are not getting the information they need about their children’s academic progress. We must do more to close this communication gap and empower parents to be true partners in their child’s education.”

“With such a large sample size, we are able to dig into the findings by state and across a range of important audiences. By making the findings publicly available, this is a gift of data that can inform conversations among communities and elected officials.” said Pam Loeb, Principal at Edge Research.

A new survey of more than 400

Quick Hits

New Mexico students made tiny gains in literacy and dipped slightly in math proficiency last school year, according to preliminary results released Sept. 19 by the Public Education Department.

Notably, the results look slightly more favorable than those in data also released Sept.19 by the Legislative Education Study Committee, which showed 2023-24 scores flat. PED attributed the discrepancy to an error PED discovered on the data earlier this week.

Regardless, the results show that a large majority of the state’s public education students continue to fall short of grade-level proficiency. This suggests that New Mexico will remain close to the bottom nationally in student achievement.

The PED results do not include detailed demographic or grade-level breakdowns. Those results will be released on Oct. 4. 

According to the PED, 39 percent of K-8 and 11th-grade students scored proficient or better on state literacy assessments, compared to 38 percent in 2023, and up from 34 percent in 2022. The LESC results showed that the literacy proficiency rate was flat at 38 percent.

In math, PED data show 23 percent of students in grades 3-8 and 11 proficient. That’s down one percentage point from 2023 and two points down from 2022. LESC numbers showed 22 percent proficient in 2024.

In grades 5, 8 and 11 science, scores were up three percentage points, from 34 percent proficient last year to 37 percent proficient in 2024.

New Mexico students made tiny gains in

News

In the heart of Albuquerque’s west side, a new beacon of hope for elementary education is set to rise: Equip Academy of New Mexico.

Spearheaded by Mercy Herrera, a Yale graduate with deep New Mexico roots, the school is designed to empower Kindergarten through 5th grade students through a unique blend of high academic expectations and culturally responsive teaching. With a personal history marked by overcoming educational challenges, Herrera is bringing her passion and vision to Equip Academy, aiming to equip every child with the tools to live out their greatness.

On August 21 Equip Academy received unanimous approval to open as a charter school from the Public Education Commission.

The school is set to open on Albuquerque’s west side in August 2025, with a focus to help improve student achievement and support the academic success of all students. This comes out of experience, as Herrera’s own academic journey was anything but straightforward.

Raised in a family that moved frequently due to financial instability and personal challenges, Herrera attended multiple elementary schools, making it difficult to establish a strong academic foundation. “College seemed super out-of-reach,” she recalled, but her determination led her to Central New Mexico College (CNM), where she began to rebuild her academic confidence.

After transferring to the University of New Mexico (UNM) and excelling in a Sign Language Interpreting Program, Herrera’s educational path took her to Harvard, where she presented research on translating scriptural metaphors from English to American Sign Language (ASL). This experience eventually led her to Yale University, where she earned her master’s degree in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature.

In applying for Yale, Herrera didn’t tell a soul. She almost didn’t believe that someone like her, who struggled in school, could elevate to such a college. And yet, Herrera got in.

Despite her achievements, Herrera never forgot her New Mexico roots or the struggles she faced growing up.

Reflecting on the 2018 Yazzie-Martinez decision, which highlighted the state’s failure to provide an adequate education to many of its students, Herrera acknowledged that she would have been classified as a Yazzie-Martinez student.

“My story isn’t unique,” Herrera said, “it’s common.”

With support from mentors who believed in her, Herrera found the importance of quality education in shifting the narrative for students from backgrounds like hers. With the support, she made it to CNM, graduated UNM, attended an Ivy League, and earned a second masters in the Science of Teaching from New York City’s Pace University. It is this experience, and the belief that New Mexico’s students deserve to succeed, that drives the vision and mission of Equip Academy.

“Every child has the opportunity to live out their greatness, and our commitment is to equip them to do so,” Herrera said, quoting the school’s vision.

Equip Academy aims to provide a joyful and engaging environment with high expectations that prioritizes measurable academic learning while celebrating student curiosity and community, regardless of that student’s background.

A key aspect of Equip Academy’s approach is its commitment to culturally responsive education. Understanding the diverse cultural landscape of New Mexico, Herrera has integrated culturally respectful education efforts into the school’s curriculum. “New Mexico has so much richness and beauty, and I think it took me leaving to understand that,” she said.

To ensure the school is responsive to students across all walks of life, Herrera is working closely with the Hispanic Cultural Center, National Institute of Flamenco, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and utilizing resources from the Native American Community Academy (NACA) to ensure that the school’s curriculum respects and reflects the cultural heritage of its students.

To support students academically, Equip Academy will implement a two-teacher model for kindergarten and first grade, allowing for more individualized attention. As part of her background, Herrera has worked as a teacher instructional coach and has made teacher support a key for the school’s success.

The school will also use cross-grade, flexible guided reading groups to ensure that students receive instruction at their individual “just right” level, helping them progress academically. Herrera emphasizes the importance of data-driven instruction and teacher excellence, which will be central to the school’s success.

Herrera’s return to New Mexico came after years of working in high-performing charter schools in New York City and driven by a desire to bring the same level of educational excellence to her home state. The experience shaped her vision for Equip Academy, prompting her to say, “I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but I want to start a charter school in New Mexico.”

Now, that vision is becoming a reality.

Equip Academy plans to open with two kindergarten classes and one first-grade class, eventually growing to serve 450 students from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school will operate on a slow-growth model, adding one grade level each year to ensure that students receive a consistent and high-quality education throughout their elementary years.

As Herrera prepares for Equip Academy’s opening, she remains focused on the bigger picture: equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need to dream audaciously, engage deeply, and pursue lives of purpose. Her journey from a struggling student to an educational leader is proof that, with the right support and opportunities, New Mexico’s students can achieve greatness.

Herrera’s words and hope for Equip Academy’s incoming students, “Believe in yourself, know what you want to do, and pursue it with everything you’ve got. With the right support, anything is possible.”

Equip Academy is now accepting interest forms for future teachers and students. For more information, visit the Equip Academy LinkedIn page.

In the heart of Albuquerque’s west side,

News

With little fanfare and in the face of strong educator opposition, the  New Mexico Public Education Department has repealed a rule designed to foster leadership opportunities for teachers while keeping them in the classroom, a program widely praised for its impact on professional development and teacher retention.

The written repeal of Rule 6.65.4, dated Sept. 9, came during a brief period when the state had no secretary of education. Arsenio Romero resigned on Aug. 28, and Mariana Padilla was named as his successor on Sept. 10. 

The repeal order was signed by Candice Castillo, deputy cabinet secretary. 

“The department notes that the program is still supported by PED guidance, and PED remains committed to maintaining the Teacher Leader Network and Advisory Committee and the Teacher Liaison programs,” a PED document announcing the decision says. 

The rule was introduced by PED in 2018.

A public hearing on the proposed repeal held on August 20 at the Jerry Apodaca Education Building in Santa Fe, attracted significant attention, with more than 200 educators voicing their opposition to the repeal.

Rachael Sewards, Founder and Head of School at Solare Collegiate Charter School, described the potential repeal as a “strong negative message” to the education sector. “Removing teacher leadership from rule communicates that PED doesn’t believe there’s a seat for teacher leaders at decision-making tables, nor does it see value in building up our field with young and aspiring leaders.” Sewards wrote.

Sewards, along with many other educators, credited the Teacher Leader Development Framework with having a profound impact on her career. Her journey from participating in the inaugural Teacher Leader Network to founding her own school is a testament to the program’s influence, she said.

During the public comment period leading up to the hearing, the NMPED received a flood of responses, totaling 80 pages of complaints, from educators who said they have benefited from the program. 

Joe Lovato, a teacher involved in PED’s past leadership initiatives, expressed his concerns: “The repeal of these programs will be viewed by us as educators as the devaluing of our input and leadership potential,” Lovato stated in his written comments.

Kelly Pearce, a former teacher ambassador, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the personal and professional growth she experienced thanks to the program. Now working in a national education role, Pearce said she is concerned about the message the repeal sends to future educators.

Some educators went beyond opposing the repeal, offering suggestions to modernize the framework to better align with current educational goals. These suggestions include focusing on literacy, supporting students impacted by the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit, and ensuring consistent and relevant data collection. 

As of now, the PED has not provided detailed reasons for the repeal. However, officials have hinted that certain elements of the Teacher Leader Development Framework may continue in some form on the department’s website, though they will no longer be codified in state rules.

With the hearing concluded, the decision now lies with the Public Education Department, which is now without a Secretary. Educators across New Mexico are left in suspense, hoping their voices have been heard and that the state will reconsider the repeal.

With little fanfare and in the face

Quick Hits

Mariana Padilla, a long-time New Mexico educator and close confidant of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, has been named the state’s new Public Education Secretary.

Padilla has served as the Director of the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet since the start of the Lujan Grisham administration. Before that, she served as the congresswoman Lujan Grisham’s state director for six years.

She replaces Arsenio Romero, who served as secretary for 18 months before resigning in August when he was named a finalist for the presidency of New Mexico State University.

A native of Albuqueruque’s South Valley, Padilla began her career as an elementary school teacher in Albuquerque Public Schools. She later earned dual master’s degrees in community and regional planning and water resources from the University of New Mexico.

“I am incredibly honored to be appointed by Gov. Lujan Grisham to lead the New Mexico Public Education Department,” Padilla said in a press release. “My career has been focused on serving the communities and families of our state. I am committed to working collaboratively with students, families, educators, and community partners to achieve the outcomes we all want to see. As a parent of grade school students, I share the sense of urgency to deliver for our kids.”  

Mariana Padilla, a long-time New Mexico educator