Back in the era of Susanna Martinez’ governorship, there was a push for a law that would allow New Mexico public schools to hold students back in third grade if they couldn’t meet reading criteria.
I wondered why there was any need for that to be in legislation, when such matters should be handled locally by the school. Somebody told me teachers or principals who tried to hold students back received death threats from parents.
I never tried to verify that claim, but the story was a sharp reminder that for some New Mexico parents, keeping their kids happy and comfortable is a higher priority than ensuring their education.
So a recent news report that most school superintendents in New Mexico hold their jobs for four years or less is not a surprise. It’s nothing new. Many years ago the average tenure of superintendents was said to be three years.
School superintendents are hired and fired by local school boards. For a superintendent to be effective, he or she needs the support of the community, and especially of the board. If a superintendent is going to try anything innovative, that support from the board is essential. A superintendent who has to worry about getting fired for offending part of the community can’t afford to be very creative in advancing education.
Senate Bill 137 might help. The bill passed both houses with strong majorities and has been signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The bill is a reincarnation of a House bill that didn’t pass last year, but it has a few additional features.
One new element is a provision that prohibits a school board with a newly seated majority to fire the superintendent without cause for the first 60 days of the board’s term. Apparently it intends that members of the board be forced to spend a little time getting to know the superintendent before they can take radical action.
The bill also adds specific benchmarks to an existing requirement that school board members receive a bit of training. The existing law does not specify how much training is required. The bill’s language says new board members must receive a minimum of 10 hours of training during their first year. The training must cover ethics and school personnel, public school finance, open meetings and public records, governance and supervision, and student achievement and support services.
The bill specifies that all other school board members must have five hours of training per year, and there are parallel provisions for members of the governing bodies of charter schools.
Ten hours for a brand new board member is pretty minimal.
Legislative analysis says that under rules of the Public Education Department, the training is provided by the New Mexico School Boards Association. That association has its own board, entirely made up of school board members from around the state – so one can imagine that the required training will probably be user-friendly.
There’s no real consequence for failing to get the training. The bill requires the school district to post the completed trainings on its website, so the public will know. That’s all.
Is it possible that this morsel of training could make a difference in the relationships between school boards and superintendents? Could it make school boards more willing to support a superintendent who wants to try something new or just push harder?
I doubt it. But I am increasingly convinced that in matters of education, small incremental steps like this are necessary because New Mexico communities will not tolerate anything too bold – such as requiring children to repeat third grade if they can’t read.
So I am glad the governor signed it. Contact Merilee Dannemann through www.triplespacedagain.com.
