Roch: Education battles long from over

linkSTAFF REPORT

The 2015 New Mexico legislative session is over, but the 60-day period entailed hard-fought battles over education legislation with wins and losses on both sides.

The education battles, however, are long from over, according to state Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan, who was named the incoming chairman of the Legislative Education Study Committee on Monday.

Roch, superintendent of Logan schools, 16 years experience as an educator. He represents District 67 representative District 67, which includes Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties.

Roch said several pieces of education legislation are related to the budget in the 2015 session, adding the state budget spends more on education now than ever before — $2.5 billion out of a $5.8 billion budget or 44 percent.

He said one of the big hot budget issues was students learning to read before they move up from third grade.

“You’re essentially throwing children into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim, Roch said. “Early on, we need to make sure kids master it and get it before they move on.”

Roch said there are four levels a student can be at in elementary school, which are advanced, proficient, nearing proficient and beginning steps.

He said House Bill 41 — the retention of third grade students bill — deals with holding back third grade students who are still at the beginning steps level, a number that equals out to very few in the student population.

Roch said the bill has been on the legislature five times with it passing the House but never making it through the Senate.

“It’s unfortunate that it has become political rather than being about what’s best for the kids,” Roch said. “I think the governor is right to continue the pressure to make this right.”

Roch recently answered a series of questions:

Why do you think the fight with the retention bill got so political?

That’s hard to say. This is the fifth time we’ve heard the bill on the legislature. I’ve heard opposition that has changed year-to-year. I’ve heard this isn’t guaranteeing a parent’s rights. I’ve heard there’s not enough funding. I’ve heard this isn’t going to be punitive and be a case-by-case nature. I can’t really tell you why there continues to be opposition or even if it’s grown.

Those learning English as a second language would not be subject to the retention, and parents would have to be informed by the second grading period of the school year. Then, they would become part of a student improvement program. So there are very common sense rules on a bill that affects a small amount of student population.

In your experience as an educator, what are some things that cause a student to remain at the beginning steps level?

At times, it’s an unidentified disability. There are sometimes challenges when a kid’s family is mobile and a child has to switch schools over and over … and the curriculum is different and the process is different (at each school). A kid could learn fractions at one school and never got to decimals then when they go to their new school, they (the students) have already learned decimals and are on fractions, so that kid never learns his decimals.

It’s difficult to put a blanket description on what kind of kids are at the beginning steps level. If you use a blanket approach, you are devaluing the needs of the individual child. It’s important to identify what a child’s strengths are and their weaknesses and what you can do to make them successful. We’re not just talking about students as test takers. That is too simplistic. We’ve got to look at the whole child.

I’ve had people ask me “why are you trying to hold back third graders?” and I explain to them the process we’re talking about and the concerns, then they’re going, “yeah, why aren’t we doing this?” There’s a lot of information that gets tied up in Santa Fe and doesn’t always get out to people who should hear about it and who it would affect. (But) I think it’s a well worth while fight.

What are solutions that have already been looked at for the retention problem?

Legislators have talked about starting school years early or ending them late to help combat this problem. A lot of districts have hired reading specialists. Logan works with pre-K and kindergarten students in a program called Read to Lead. So there are significant dollars for intervention.

What was another big educational topic discussed this year?

We had a really productive conversation about teacher evaluation, which is operated through the Department of Education right now.

Fifty percent is based on student achievement and growth during their time under that teacher from when the child comes into their classroom. The other 50 is split in half. Part is on school administrators observing how efficiently teachers use methods and materials. The other part is decided on by the district. Teacher attendance can be factored in among many other things. Some schools use teacher/student surveys. There are options that teachers have with that last 25 percent.

There has been debate that 50 percent based on student achievement is too high, because it puts too much emphasis on testing. Observations by administrators has real value in improving instruction, so with House Bill 144, they were trying to increase administrator observation to 40 percent and decrease student achievement to 40 percent. This one also passed in the house and didn’t get through the Senate.

I think that’s one that is going to gain moment. I think we’ll be ready to move on that next January.

Why did education legislation hit so many walls this legislative session?

The thing with education is this. You don’t have the public weigh in necessarily on the real-estate industry or the insurance industry, but everyone has been in school and a lot of people have kids in schools so there are a lot more voices weighing in from the general public.

All of those voices need to be heard, and that’s a lot of what slows down the process sometimes. But what comes out could ultimately end up better because all of those voices weigh in.

Do you have higher hopes for education in the next session?

I do. I have actually been blessed with an opportunity recently in that area. I was just named the chairman of the Legislative Education Study Committee.

It’s made up of republicans and democrats and senators and representatives. We’ll have an opportunity to continue these discussions and get input from school districts and educators. It’s a big responsibility because education is high on everyone’s priority list. Being someone who does it (works in education) for a living, I am the one who has to live these laws, so I can sometimes provide that perspective that is helpful.

Would you say educators as a whole are very involved in the legislative process?

I would say yes they are. Again, we always have more room for input. Every education committee I’ve been a part of has had representatives representing districts, school administrators, school boards. There’s actually quite a bit of discussion involved. One thing I will say about New Mexico is it is a very citizen involved legislature. In New Mexico, we’re an unpaid legislature and many of us come from educational backgrounds. Because the way our legislature is a volunteer, citizen-based legislature, you have the opportunity for educators to participate, to testify on committees or actually be part of committees and cast a vote, so we can ensure the future of our kids.

— Compiled by staff writer Alisa Boswell