SANTA FE — The New Mexico Public Education Department submitted a draft version of the Martinez/Yazzie Action Plan to the court in the Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico consolidated lawsuit on Oct. 1.
The draft plan, which was developed by the PED with support from WestEd, a nonprofit research, development and service agency, and Legislative Education Study Committee staff, is available for public review at martinezyazzieactionplan.org. Community members are encouraged to read the plan in full and share feedback through the online survey, available in English and Spanish, during the public comment period, which will remain open through Oct. 17.
Feedback received will be considered in making any necessary revisions. A final version of the Action Plan is due to the court by Nov. 3.
The draft plan was developed based on feedback from over 1,000 participants at 12 regional community meetings and multiple targeted feedback sessions, 430 participants at five virtual feedback sessions, and more than 1,200 online survey responses. The draft plan outlines how the state will meet its constitutional obligation to provide all New Mexico students with access to a uniform and sufficient education, with particular attention to English learners, Native American students, students with disabilities and students experiencing poverty.
“We are so grateful to the people of the state for showing up and participating in the community engagement process,” Public Education Sec. Mariana D. Padilla said. “The response has been thoughtful and inspiring and will meaningfully impact education for the young people in our state.”
The PED contracted with LANL Foundation to lead the public engagement process. The meetings were designed to gather input to ensure the plan reflects the experiences, needs, and ideas of students, families, educators, and tribal communities across New Mexico. To ensure broad participation, sessions offered food, childcare, and interpretation services in many languages, including American Sign Language.
Regional community meetings were hosted across the state—in Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Española, Farmington, Gallup, Las Cruces, Mescalero, Raton, Santa Fe, Silver City and Zuni—with five additional virtual sessions to reach rural and remote participants. Stakeholder engagement meetings were also held with tribal leaders and educators, deans and directors of New Mexico’s teacher preparation programs, state legislators from the Legislative Education Study Committee and key public education leaders throughout July, August, and September.
For more information about the Martinez/Yazzie Action Plan and for updates, visit martinezyazzieactionplan.org.
