Judge Roswell puts PED mandate on hold – LOCAL NEWS

After a hearing yesterday in Roswell, Judge Dustin Hunter put the NM PED’s infamous 180-day school year ruling on ice. This comes after a lawsuit was originally filed by the New Mexico Superintendent’s Association against the PED to reduce the “overreach” in the form of this 180-day rule. According to the Associated Press, consideration of the 180-day rule began last year, sparking opposition. It wasn’t until this year’s legislative session concluded that the PED announced it would implement the rule, which would take effect on July 1.

Resistance immediately came from all corners of the state. Most New Mexico school districts signed letters of support against PED rule, citing lack of budget approval as the driving cause. “If the Legislature had intended to expand the number of days with all the associated costs — like transportation and food and specialty providers like special education and everything else — it would necessarily have provided the funding or provided clear guidance as to why this was so. That’s not possible,” Judge Hunter said. Attorneys for the plaintiffs also claimed that 98% of the public comments they received from thousands of people across the state were against the PED’s rule.

In March of this year, Aresenio Romero, who is secretary of the PED, claimed that this was one of several implementations he and the department had planned to help New Mexico rise in the ranks of public education. As of 2020, the state ranks #50 in public education compared to the rest of the Union while being #23 in equity financing and 19th in the percentage of total taxable resources spent on education.

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