Legislative priorities discussed at school board

State legislative bills on special education, math and literacy are among the priorities of the Socorro School board for the current 30-day legislative session.

“We do have the NMSBA (New Mexico School Board Association) coming up next week, at which point we have the opportunity as board members to interact with our elected officials. And I thought it would be a good idea to have this as a discussion item for having strategies for what to do and maybe what we want to actually bring to our representatives,” Board president Sharon Session said.

Superintendent Joyce Gormley told the board that unfunded mandates put financial strain on the district, saying SB64, a bill to create an office for special education, would require a statewide Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which raised concerns about how it would be rolled out.

“My fear about this SB64 bill is that there is a statewide IEP in the bill, and so every school district will have to use the exact same IEP,” Gormley said. “And the challenge is, are you going to roll this IEP out just like you rolled Amira out?”

Amira is an artificial intelligence educational assistant program that Gormley initially thought could be a “silver bullet” in education. However, the Amira rollout was problematic, and she felt it was mandated without enough classroom-level piloting. She said the program had inconsistencies and technical issues despite troubleshooting and working with representatives.

“If Amira were to work like they say, it works, it would be highly effective,” Gormley said, “But nothing takes the place of a highly qualified teacher.”

Gormley said Stan Rounds from the New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders is trying to get an addition to that law that will also include a superintendent advisory team to the Office of Special Education.

“So if they include an advisory committee to the Office of Special Education, I would be for that passing,” Gormley said.

She said both the literacy and math bills are well-intentioned, but they come with an added burden on our teachers.

“Yes, we need math improvements. And yes, I understand the desire and the intention behind the bill, but come sit in a teacher’s classroom for a day or a week and see the amount of paperwork they already have to do for their IEPs and their MLS and all the reporting and responding. It’s a lot. I don’t know what the answer is, but I know that I don’t think teachers can put another assessment on their plate.” Gormley said.