Issue Position: Our Schools

Issue Position

More teaching. Less testing. Smaller classes. Early education for every child.

As an educator who has taught students from pre-K to college, and who now helps guide our New Mexico teachers, I know we need to do more for our students and educators. I know that teachers are the bedrock of our nation, and that we can do more to support both our students and educators. I support:

Investing in Early Childhood Education for every child in our state (through amending the New Mexico Constitution to tap the Land Grant Permanent Fund);

Adequately funding all levels of education, including K-12 and higher education;

Recognizing the importance of play as the way young children learn;

Funding for research-based literacy and mathematics programs;

Recognizing the value of a well-rounded education that addresses the whole child and the need for resources across the full spectrum of education, including the arts, to ensure that each and every child in New Mexico has the opportunity to succeed in the field of their choice;

Reducing classroom sizes so that our students can spend more time learning;

Reducing the burden of standardized testing on students and teachers so teachers can teach to the students rather than spending too much time teaching to the test and how to test; and,

Launching a fair and balanced teacher evaluation system based on domain-centered classroom observations and discussions between educators and evaluators, surveys of parents and students, and evidence-based classroom practices.

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