From an early age, Emma Jones became an advocate for herself while navigating Albuquerque Public Schools as a homeless student. Her experiences growing up led her to 13 years of community organizing to improve school engagement and identify problems in New Mexico’s education landscape. Jones, 32, is the lead organizer for Learning Alliance New Mexico, […]
Education
Learning experiences: Julia Bergen
It was just two days into the school year, and Julia Bergen already was dealing with two cases of student homelessness. Then she heard about an influx of Guatemalan migrant children just released from federal detention, who had unexpectedly shown up in a Santa Fe school. Bergen is executive director of Communities In Schools of […]
Criminalizing Disability
Special-needs kids who don’t get help in school are winding up in jail.
Left Behind: Where does the funding go?
New Mexico public schools get most of their budget — around 70 percent — from the state, based on a complex formula that takes into account everything from poverty rates to the number of special needs students. But once districts get that money, they have wide leeway as to how they actually spend it. And […]
Left Behind
QUESTA – When the fire alarm sounded before lunch in November of 2017, the staff at Alta Vista Elementary School knew they had a problem. A 6-year-old boy confined to a wheelchair needed to evacuate with the rest of his class. Unfortunately, the school had never purchased a chair that would let him leave the […]
Who will lead New Mexico’s Public Education Department?
In the coming days, governor-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham will take the first major step to fulfill her sweeping campaign promises on education – appointing a secretary to lead New Mexico’s troubled Public Education Department.
For healthcare, please take a number
Funding cuts, healthcare shortage harm N.M.’s autistic children
Foreign teachers pay dearly to fill jobs in New Mexico
More than 200 foreign teachers are risking their financial security for an opportunity to work in public schools.


