Judge demands more education spending. What's next?

Category: Editorials Editorials
Published: 23 July 2018 23 July 2018

By: Paul Gessing

On Friday, July 21, Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that New Mexico's K-12 funding is "inadequate." I read the 75 page decision and there is not a great deal of new information or especially interesting reasoning, but I did learn that "there are four states, including New Mexico, that require that the education be adequate or sufficient." However, three states require that the education be high quality, and nine states require that it be suitable.

Obviously this is the kind of "positive right" that conservatives and libertarians often decry as education is something that demands money be extracted from one group and allocated to another group.

What is an "adequate" amount? High quality? How about "suitable?" These are terms with very little meaning and they invite judges like Singleton to legislate from the bench.

Worse, while we at the Rio Grande Foundation have offered numerous solutions aimed at improving our K-12 over the years including: various forms of school choice, teacher pension reform, focusing education $$$ on the classroom, and licensing reform, these are (not surprisingly) not the remedies sought by the plaintiffs (MALDEF and the NM Center on Law and Poverty). Rather, we have a demand for more money.

Forget the fact that according to the US Census Bureau New Mexico spends more per student than any of it neighbors.

table 1 rs

Adjusted for cost of living and incomes New Mexico’s K-12 spending is 6th-highest in the nation.

table 2 rs

And that our teachers are also paid more than those in any of our neighboring states. More money is the solution.

table 3 rs

I expect that Gov. Martinez will appeal this decision. The results of the Governor's race will likely have an impact on what ultimately happens here. Should Michelle Lujan-Grisham be elected she'll be in a tough spot (as will Democrats in the Roundhouse). They desperately want to EXPAND pre-K (using the permanent fund if possible). But they don't want to be seen as defying a judge's call for higher K-12 spending.

Would they be able to do both at the same time? Oil revenues may be adequate right now to provide a massive boost to K-12 spending, but if the Democrats get both, they will need to see some pretty impressive results. Sure, we're talking a decade from now, but a massive new "investment" in K-12 could create an expectation of results that the Democrats may not be ready to embrace.

Paul J. Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
P.O. Box 40336
Albuquerque, N.M., 87196
www.riograndefoundation.org
505-264-6090

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.