New law empowers state support for NM families
By Benjamin Yazza / NM News Port / New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham recently signed Senate Bill 22, to create a new state agency, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department. Its purpose is to offer every child in New Mexico the best opportunity to succeed in school, work and life by providing for […]
Education leaders hope to turn around worsening teacher shortage
By Joshua Grajeda and Sergio Guerrero / NM News Port / Teacher vacancies have become an epidemic in New Mexico, but efforts to train new teachers are starting to help, as is the state government’s plan to increase spending on teachers and schools. According to the 2018 NM Educator Vacancy Report, there were 740 unfilled […]
NM Public Education Department offers no resources to homeschool families
For Albuquerque mom, Jen Weaver, the decision to homeschool her first daughter was short lived. “It just wasn’t something I think I truly wanted to do… but felt I should try if it was better for my daughter,” she said. “My daughter is exceptionally bright but didn’t qualify for ‘gifted.’ She wanted to learn at […]
New Mexico struggling to fill teacher jobs
By Joshua Grajeda and Sergio Guerrero / NM News Port / Teacher vacancies have become an epidemic in New Mexico, as there are now 740 positions to be filled in grade levels K-12. As of 2016, the need for educators had increased by nearly 60 percent. Breaking things down by grade level, most vacancies — […]
New Mexico data shows dramatic decline in homeschooling
By Hannah Perry / NM News Port / For Albuquerque mom, Laurel Menicucci, the choice to homeschool is easy. “I’m going to know much quicker, if my child struggles with something, than a teacher is going to know,” she said. Menicucci is a mother of three and has been homeschooling for four years. But, according […]
Open Doors and Open Arms
By Lauren Villagran / Searchlight NM / ANTHONY, N.M. – Parents and children stumbled off the steps of an old charter bus to waves of applause and shouts of “Bienvendidos!” A small crowd of volunteers from St. Anthony’s Catholic Church had been waiting in the cold night air on a recent Monday, eager to welcome […]
On the Front Lines
Medical facilities in southern New Mexico strain to meet the needs of vulnerable migrants arriving at the border. By Lauren Villagran / Searchlight NM / ANTELOPE WELLS, N.M. – Half a dozen children gazed up at the camera, their eyes wide beneath hats and hoodies, hands buried in their pockets or nuzzled in the necks […]
Partners and Crime
A family changed by gun violence offers case study in New Mexico’s domestic violence problem. By Barbara Ferry / Searchlight NM / July 17 is the best of days in the Gaytan household, because it marks the birthday of 12-year-old Ian, who lives with his grandparents in a doublewide mobile home on a dirt road […]
Pay Now and Pay Later
By Ed Williams / Searchlight New Mexico / Nearly half of New Mexico’s population relies on a dysfunctional computer system for access to government-funded health coverage, food assistance, heating and other benefits. That system has repeatedly failed them, cutting off tens of thousands of children and families from their financial lifeline. Developed by the multinational […]
Oil leases bring jobs, strains to southeast NM
By John L. Smith / Searchlight New Mexico / LOVINGTON—The 61-mile drive on US 82 from Artesia to this southeast New Mexico town crosses the heart of the Permian Basin oil field’s extension into the state. Pump rigs bob like great iron dinosaurs come to life, and the smell of petroleum fills the air. Flare […]