Font ResizeSANTA FE - Schools need to be graded in an easy-to-understand system if New Mexico is to rise from the bottom of the heap in national education ratings, Gov. Susana Martinez said Tuesday.
She called a news conference to repeat her push for a straightforward annual grade, A through F, for every public school.
Martinez said this would cut through the strange lexicon of education ratings, in which terms such as "restructuring 2" describe school performance.
Flanked by more than a dozen legislators from both parties, Martinez said the existing system is confusing and counterproductive. Parents are less likely to get involved if they cannot decode a school's rating, she said.
Martinez also criticized movie-makers who receive a state subsidy for shooting in New Mexico. She said she wanted to cut the rebates from 25 percent to 15 percent, so as not to favor Hollywood over children in classrooms.
One legislator who stood by Martinez on the grading system also is one of the movie industry's champions. She is Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, who says the movie industry benefits New Mexico's government by employing thousands who then pay taxes.
Martinez called on a key supporter to follow her to the lectern. Democratic Sen. Cynthia Nava, who also is superintendent of the Gadsden Independent School District, said she liked the governor's proposed grading system.
Nava said the governor's plan would better measure strides in student achievement, and eventually would
A bill to implement Martinez's grading system will be back in front of Nava's Senate Education committee this morning. The measure, SB 427, is sponsored by Sen. Vernon Asbill, R-Carlsbad.
Florida, Indiana and New York already have A-through-F grading for schools. Their schools are also still subject to ratings of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The same would hold true for New Mexico.
Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or (505) 820-6898. His blog is at http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/newmexico.
