SANTA FE - New Mexico legislators always say improving schools is not a partisan issue, but that may not be true.

One reform measure from the recently concluded legislative session could be the best example of how politics influences education policies.

The bill by state Sen. Howie Morales would revamp the formula for rating New Mexico's 830 public schools with grades of A through F.

Morales, D-Silver City, says the existing grading system, devised by the state Public Education Department, is volatile, unfair and inaccurate.

He cited cases in which schools dropped two letter grades in six months as evidence that the system was broken.

Both houses of the Legislature approved Morales' bill to keep the A-F grading system, but create a 21-member education council to make it more understandable and less dependent on standardized testing.

A party-line showdown has characterized the bill so far.

Republicans voted against Morales' measure, seeing it as criticism of Hanna Skandera, secretary-designate of public education, and of Skandera's boss, Gov. Susana Martinez.

Martinez, a Republican, gets the final say on the bill to rework the school grading system.

She has until April 5 to sign, veto or pocket veto Morales' bill. A pocket veto means Martinez could kill the measure without taking any action and without explaining why.


"I haven't gotten any indication of whether it will be signed or vetoed," Morales said Tuesday, 10 days after the legislative session ended.

But, he said, he viewed the staunch Republican opposition during legislative hearings as an indication that partisan politics were in play. Martinez in 2011 pushed for the A-F grading system, and she described it as a landmark bill. Legislators in her party made it plain they did not want changes.

For their part, Democrats say the grading system is a mess. They received support for that position from an unlikely source.

Paul Aguilar, deputy secretary of public education, last year said the existing grading formula was so convoluted that perhaps only five people in New Mexico could understand it.

Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, said that confusion should be ended so teachers and principals know what is needed to improve their schools. Padilla, during a legislative hearing last month, said the existing formula for grading schools was a barrier, not a path to improvement.

"I couldn't find a single person who could explain the system," he said.

Skandera's department and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce opposed Morales' bill. But school administrators and even individual school districts, notably Artesia and Santa Fe, supported his measure, saying they wanted clarity in how schools receive their A-F grades.

Republican lawmakers gave one reason for opposing changes in the grading formula. They said Morales' bill could jeopardize the state's waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Morales said Republicans were making empty claims to derail necessary change.

He said reworking the state's inaccurate grading system would strengthen the state's position with the federal government, not imperil it.

In addition, Morales said, compliance monitoring of the existing system had not been established. Therefore, changing the grading formula would not upset anything, he said.

One of his main criticisms of the current formula is that it is top heavy with standardized testing. Morales said the system put in place by Skandera and her department undercuts learning in favor of test taking.

Morales has a second hard-fought education bill awaiting action by the governor. It would create a professional council to develop an evaluation system for teachers and principals.

Skandera last year launched work on a system in which teachers would be evaluated in large part based on their students' performance on standardized tests. Lawmakers had declined to pass legislation for such a system, but she moved ahead with it anyway.

Morales' bill on teacher evaluations cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate despite uniform opposition from Republicans. 

Other bills of significance

Many other high-profile bills are still on Martinez's desk, awaiting action.

One would require agendas of public government meetings to made available at least 72 hours in advance. The current standard is 24 hours. This measure is not controversial, having cleared the Legislature without anybody voting against it.

A bill that generated more debate would allow pregnant girls and teen parents to receive additional excused absences from school. They would have to make up any missed work within established deadlines.

All Democrats and most Republicans voted for the bill, sponsored by Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces.

She said it would provide a practical way for pregnant girls to stay in school, rather than dropping out if they became ill or had complications.

Fifteen Republican legislators, including Reps. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo and Anna Crook of Clovis, voted against the bill. Crook said she saw it as creating incentives to become a teen parent.

A crime bill that Martinez has twice vetoed has been reworked and is back in front of her.

It would allow drunken drivers who maim or kill someone to obtain an ignition interlock license after they complete their sentence.

Martinez vetoed bills the last two years that would have enabled those guilty of vehicular homicide or causing great bodily harm by vehicle to regain driving privileges before completing probation or parole. She said those bills were too lenient.

Sen. Ron Griggs, R-Alamogordo, said he hoped the latest bill, made tougher based on Martinez's prior veto messages, would receive her signature.
