Opinion: Needed reforms could come with bill's passage

New Mexico’s woeful hugging of 51st place nationally in education could improve with the passage of House Bill 325, at this writing awaiting a hearing before the House Education Committee. It comes from education improvements proposed by Think New Mexico, an independent think tank known for its many non-partisan reforms making New Mexico a better place to live.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Natalie Figueroa (D-Albuquerque), a high school teacher, and Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena), a former school board member.

The bill addresses many problems with school boards throughout the state. I can only attest to the Espanola School Board, which my former newspaper, the Rio Grande Sun, used to cover extensively from the Board’s inception until March 2022. The Board is a melting pot of the worst politics can give Rio Arribans.

This bill would provide for training for school board members, a no-brainer in my opinion, as almost every prospective school board member I ever interviewed was clueless as to the budget, procedures, laws regarding public meetings and decorum. School board training is a must.

The superintendent turnover in New Mexico is driven by board politics and uninformed board members. Espanola has had 15 superintendents in 12 years. How can there be any stability with such turnover? Additionally, the qualifications of many of those superintendents would have been questioned by a competent board.

The bill would also add a penalty for nepotism, a problem in many school districts, defended by those saying their district is so small nepotism is inevitable. Espanola’s school district is composed of about 30,000 people. Surely we can find a janitor, maintenance person, cook who is not directly related to a board member. Most teachers aren’t from the Valley so that’s not a problem. The problem arises in the middle administration, the district’s weakest point. Again, turnover due to board-influenced politics drives a semi-annual chair shifting seen in principals.

Another great point of HB 325 is forcing school board members to reveal their campaign contributions. Barney Trujillo is a good example of the public needing to know his campaign contributions when he ran for school board 15 years ago. His sweetheart three-year $49,500 annually marketing deal for his company, 2Smooth Media, after he left the district was rife with payola based in campaign contributions, and led to his criminal conviction in 2021.

The bill doesn’t go far enough. I’d like to see school board members forced to resign when they run for another office. The incestuous nature of county politics is in our face right now with Espanola School Board Vice President Brandon Bustos sitting on that board while also sitting on the Rio Arriba County Commission. Board President Jeremy Maestas is the new county manager. How effective can either of them be at either job?

Only in New Mexico would this actually be up for debate. Naturally, this bill is opposed by the New Mexico School Boards Association and the association that represents the 89 school district superintendents. This is a window into why New Mexico remains stuck at the bottom of the nation for education quality.

These are common sense, clearly needed changes to the way education is provided. A strong school board is necessary to hire an ethical, experienced, well-trained superintendent. Then the board must get out of his or her way.

A properly trained school board would give a good superintendent the support and budget to hire proper principals to lead teachers in the mission to graduate students ready to do whatever their life’s ambition may be. This bill goes a long way toward that.

Robert Trapp is former editor and publisher of the Rio Grande Sun. Contact him:

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