Lt. Gov. John Sanchez speaks to a WNMU audience about education initiatives.

Lt. Gov. Sanchez and President Joseph Shepard, the two men in the center wearing ties, pose with the students from Mexico, who are in Silver City learning English.

Article and Photos By Mary Alice Murphy

Friday at noon, immediately following the Western New Mexico University Board of Regents' meeting, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez announced several education initiatives to students, faculty and regents in Light Hall.

"Gov. (Susana) Martinez has announced new initiatives, with the purpose of improving education in New Mexico," Sanchez said. "We want to make sure teachers have all the tools they need.

"The first initiative is to increase pay for beginning teachers," Sanchez said. "The last raise before 2013 that teachers had received was in 2004. Last year, we moved beginning teacher salaries from $30,000 to $32,000. It will cost about $6.7 million to raise them from $32,000 to $34,000 this year."

He said it is a targeted approach to make New Mexico more competitive in retaining and drawing new teachers.

"Any teacher, receiving less than $34,000 will rise to $34,000," Sanchez said. "We are also proposing a Supply Bucket Fund to buy for each teacher a debit card preloaded with $100 for supplies. We will ask for receipts to show where the money is spent.

"Another initiative is the Teachers Pursuing Excellence Program," he continued. "It is a mentorship program, with the same structure as the Principals Pursuing Excellence Program, which has been successful."

As part of the program that teachers will apply for, each mentor and mentee will receive a stipend.

"Investing in education is one of the most important things we do," Sanchez said. "Support from the legislators is critical for the state to continue to be competitive with the surrounding states."

Susan Dunlap of the Silver City Sun-News asked how much the stipend would be.

Sanchez said it had not been decided yet. "We want to make sure the monies are available. We are conservative in keeping our reserve available. We want to ensure those monies will grow, but we understand the challenges teachers have."

Dunlap asked if, with the oil revenues down, would the money come from other places.

Sanchez said it might be taken from the reserve, but "we will not take from other programs."

Dunlap also asked if the $100 for supplies would be sufficient.

"It's a start," Sanchez said. "Sometimes school supplies are not readily available to students. We hope the stipend will continue to increase."

Dunlap also asked about the Public Education Department's mandate for testing to be taken online. "What if a school, such as the Cobre district, is having trouble meeting the mandate?"

Sanchez said he wants to make sure smaller schools are considered. "We want to make sure that every school has the technology to provide the skills every student needs."

Ben Fisher of the Silver City Daily Press said New Mexico is the only state with no mandatory typing instruction. "Are there plans to change that?"

Sanchez said he hadn't heard of anything addressing that issue, "but it's a great suggestion."

An audience member said teachers could apply for mentorships, but "many schools may not be up-to-date on instructional changes."

"We want to be able to announce the program, so that every teacher knows about this mentorship," Sanchez said. "It's an opportunity to make educators aware of the program. We need to make sure there is legislative support."

Another audience member asked about how merit pay affects beginning teachers.

"We want to make sure we are more competitive," Sanchez said. "The merit pay is not tied to starting salaries. It's one way of saying we support education. It's just a beginning. We want to see starting teachers stay here and not lose them to other states for economic reasons."