N.M. governor announces reductions in schools' administrative burdens

Sep. 13—RIO RANCHO — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Monday the state will cut 41 percent of paperwork and administrative burdens on educators.

The news comes four months after the governor issued an executive order requiring the Public Education Department to cut administrative work in education by 25 percent for the 2022-23 school year.

The reductions are in place effective immediately. School districts will soon release guidelines for teachers on how to proceed.

Lujan Grisham said in a news conference Monday at Ernest Stapleton Elementary School in Rio Rancho the reduction will allow for more meaningful data collection and give teachers more time with their students.

"The truth is that instead of having you be able to challenge us about the things that can make a difference in the classroom, we're busy compiling, filing, analyzing and putting out data that doesn't reflect the things that we know can make a difference in the classroom," she said.

Much of the paperwork is redundant because schools have a heavy burden to compile and analyze data for the federal government that tends to get duplicated by state requirements. Administrative barriers also make it difficult for teachers to get the resources they need because of burdensome application processes. New Mexico wants to cut through red tape and focus on what works to attract teachers to the state, the governor said.

"We're going to be a state that's flexible, meaningful and evidence-based," said Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, who is in a battle to retain her seat in the November election.

Education is a key issue in the governor's race. Lujan Grisham's Republican opponent, former TV weatherman Mark Ronchetti, announced last week an education plan he said would help kids catch up after learning losses tied to the coronavirus pandemic, including a $100 million tutoring initiative to help struggling students in grades 1-3 with reading and math.

Current and former educators and administrators praised Lujan Grisham's announcement as a collaborative effort between the state and its educators.

"As a former elementary school teacher, I know that our work is never truly done," said Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico. "Our profession asks us to be constantly reflective and always looking ahead. ... I know firsthand the amount of time spent on reporting and data collection. The truth is that every hour spent on duplicative or unnecessary reporting is an hour not being spent with my students engaging them in the learning process."

"It's so critical to get that time back," said Billie Helean, president of the Rio Rancho School Employees Union and a first grade teacher at Stapleton.

"Folks in our schools have told me it's busy work," Helean said. "A lot of it is busy work that doesn't impact the students directly. So being able to take that busy work away and give that time back to teachers to make connections and to have valuable instruction that is meaningful for kids and teachers is really important."