We got a lot of reaction to last week’s NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS: Public Square special. For those of you that missed it, the topic was early childhood literacy. We pulled together a group of concerned citizens to talk about the issue, and how we can do a better job as a state making sure all of our kids have the tools they need to succeed in school and life. Then, we brought together a group of community leaders to pick up the conversation and look toward solutions. Many of you were interested in voicing your opinions on the topic as well, and we wanted to share them with everyone else as well.
*Ann called in with a couple of questions on the topic. She wants to know where New Mexico will get all the qualified teachers that we will need to teach our children, especially if we expand PreK to all New Mexico four-year-olds. She also wants to know what some of the states mentioned in the show as success stories are doing that we might be able to echo here in New Mexico. We’ll pull together some information on that and post it up here in the next couple of days.
*Diana wants to know why the state hasn’t already taxed liquor in this state to help pay for early childhood education. We’ll forward that question on to the lawmakers that participated in Public Square to get their take on her question.
*JW wrote in to say “Friday night’s program featuring the group of citizens talking about education: Several suggestions:
- Raise the minimum wage immediately to at least $13/hour so working parents have more time and energy for their kids,
- Make it easier and safer to get to school without a car
- Establish free parent-education classes, and
- Put some actual KIDS on that panel, or set up separate panels for grade-school and high school- age kids.
*And, Erin emailed in with these thoughts: “I work in a high school which is 85% Hispanic, with a 55% graduation rate (that is not a typo). Last year\’s freshmen averaged a 5th grade reading level. How did they get to be freshmen? I work in credit recovery, where I frequently deal with kids who are low achievers or have kids of their own. The level at which they read and write and do math is astonishingly bad. As I talk to them, besides a lack of parental involvement, something happens in about 4th or 5th grade, where they go from good to adequate students to failing students. Do we need competency tests at every grade level? What is the value of social passing if these kids are constantly repeating classes and/or unable to keep up?”
We’re already hard at work on this month’s Public Square special, which will focus in on the issue of nutrition and our children. If you want to participate, shoot us an email at infocus@knme.org, or give us a call at (505) 277-1246. You can also head to our Public Square website to learn how you can upload a Youtube video with your thoughts on the issue.
