On this week's episode of The Reporter's Notebook Podcast, we’re talking to Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Ralph Ramos. We’ll be talking about the school district’s priorities during this year’s 60-day session of the New Mexico Legislature. We’ll take a look at the impact proposed legislation might impact LCPS.
As New Mexico’s state legislature began work Tuesday, Jan. 17, to allocate an historically large budget — totaling $9.4 billion in recurring spending, an 11.9% increase from the last fiscal year — school districts around the state will be asking for a piece of that pie.
Some have suggested things like fully funding and implementing the Hispanic, Indian, Black, and Bilingual Multicultural Education Acts, significantly increasing school employee salaries, increasing instructional hours, and continuing to increase targeted funding through the “at-risk” index.
Teachers are asking for more planning time, reduced class size, adequate staffing, an expansion of community schools and a greater voice in the allocation of federal COVID relief funds.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll ask Superintendent Ramos if those things align with the district’s goals and, if so, how?
In the interest of full disclosure, I want to mention that I was once the district’s Director of Communications, though it was under a previous superintendent.
This week, we're glad to have Superintendent Ramos joining us.