New Mexico is on the verge of dumbing down education by adopting the Next Generation Science Standards with two adjustments for our state:
1) they are not supported by science,
2) they are not standard.
Here is the bigger problem: I learned today in a consortium of legislators, educators, and researchers, that after taking public comment on the proposed adoption, whatever the outcome of that comment, the Public Education Department of Governor Martinez, most likely will adopt those faulty standards anyway. They will say a “significant number” of public comment was in support of the adoption, (they won’t provide statistics, or they will play with semantics) and they’ll say districts have discretion, but the outcome will be that New Mexico will officially adopt the rule, bypassing all democratic processes.
After we restore policy for the people of New Mexico, we will need to dismantle the Secretary of Education post. This example should be enough for people from all affiliations to realize the importance of elevating education out of the election cycle. The fact that the next administration can sweep away everything done in this administration, by passing “rules”, should convince everyone to change the mechanism to a more publicly accountable system. The volatility of policy should not undermine “the best of our knowledge”, which is what science education, and any education, is supposed to be.
To read the specifics of the proposed “rule” here is the LANL foundation position paper:
https://www.lanlfoundation.org/news/science-standards-letter-to-ped
Word is, because of this “loophole”, we can expect many rules to be proclaimed over the next year.
Please still participate, to the best of our abilities we must. Interested parties may provide comment on the proposed repeal and replacement of this state rule at the public hearing or may submit written comments, or both, to Jamie Gonzales, Policy Division, New Mexico Public Education Department, Room 101, 300 Don Gaspar Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, or by electronic mail at rule.feedback@state.nm.us, or fax to (505) 827-6681. All written comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. (MDT) on the date of the public hearing. The PED encourages the early submission of written comments. The public comment period is from September 12, 2017 to October 16, 2017 at 5 p.m. (MDT)
Golden Apple Academy 