Latest draft deemed insufficient for N.M. students
Staff Reports
A new school year has begun across New Mexico. While classrooms retain a familiar sense of community, a caring and tenacious group of advocates is actively challenging the state’s lesson plans.
These advocates are the plaintiffs and supporters of the landmark Yazzie/Martinez v. the State of New Mexico case. Earlier this year, the plaintiffs asked a state court for permission to revise New Mexico’s plan for addressing systemic educational inequities, arguing that the current version does not go far enough to meet the state’s constitutional requirements.
The Yazzie/Martinez plaintiffs filed their reply with the court April 22, responding to the New Mexico Public Education Department’s response to the objections to the state’s Final Remedial Action Plan raised in February.
The plaintiffs argued that while the plan presented broad strategies to face the education challenges, it lacks many of the details needed to actually put those strategies into practice statewide.
Key concerns include a lack of clear timelines and assigned responsibilities, measurable benchmarks, accountability measures, cost estimates and a long-term funding plan.
The plaintiffs also argued the plan does not adequately align with several state education laws, including the Indian Education Act, Hispanic Education Act, Bilingual Multicultural Education Act, and Black Education Act. These shortcomings, they allege, in turn make it difficult to determine who is responsible for carrying out the plan, how progress will be measured, and whether the state is providing the resources necessary to make the changes happen.
They also want the opportunity to bring in New Mexico-based experts, educators, tribal leaders, families, and students to work with the court and the New Mexico Public Education Department to develop an education plan with specific actions, timelines, accountability measures, and realistic cost estimates.
“Getting this plan right matters because it determines whether students can rely on the supports they need actually being there in their classrooms,” Melissa Candelaria, education director for the New Mexico Center on Law & Poverty and Yazzie counsel, stated in a press release.
Loretta Trujillo, executive director of Transform Education NM, said that communities and educators have already demonstrated what works for the state and that their next step is turning that knowledge into an enforceable system.
“This is not about starting over [the plan],” Trujillo said. “It is about whether the state is willing to build from what communities across New Mexico have already made clear.”
Transform Education NM held a hearing on Sept. 4 to gather community input and support for pushing the state to reform the plan draft. Further hearing dates are pending.
TIMELINE OF THE CASE
Yazzie/Martinez v. the State of New Mexico, a landmark case that seeks to address educational inequities in New Mexico, has been a source of contention since it was filed in 2014.
Judge Sarah Singleton ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in July 2018. In her ruling, she said the state is violating the rights of public school students to the resources, funding, and programming that will enable them to succeed. The plaintiffs then urged the state to launch a collaborative process to form a comprehensive action plan to address these systemic failures.
The plaintiffs eventually concluded the plan must include the following components:
Cultivating multicultural & multilingual education
Ensuring inclusive education for students with disabilities
Transforming curriculum and instructional approaches
Building a diverse and qualified educator workforce
Enhancing technology access for all students
Establishing comprehensive student & family support services
Implementing an equitable funding system
Developing robust accountability mechanisms
Strengthening the capacity of the Public Education Department
However, the plan faced years of delays and external events like the start of the Covid pandemic, to where the state tried to get the ruling dismissed. But the judges continued to rule in favor of Yazzie/Martinez, and a deadline of fall 2025 was set at an April 2025 meeting.
At this meeting, First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson ruled that New Mexico had still not met its constitutional duty to provide all students with the education they are legally owed, particularly Native American students, English learners, students with disabilities, and students from economically disadvantaged families who are deemed “at-risk.”
The Court then ordered the New Mexico Public Education Department to collaborate with the Legislative Education Study Committee and community stakeholders to develop a detailed, court-approved Remedial Action Plan.
As a result of the ruling, the state had to craft an action plan with input from the communities impacted by their action or lack thereof.
The proposed action plan addresses five core areas as ordered by the court:
Equitable access to high-quality instruction
Access to well-prepared, culturally and linguistically responsive educators
Academic, social, and behavioral support services
Fair and effective funding to meet student needs
Data and accountability systems to drive continuous improvement
PED tapped two consultants to help develop the new plan: New Mexico-based Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation and the Phoenix-based nonprofit WestEd, along with the Legislative Education Study Committee.
The ongoing hearings and response follow statements by groups including the 25th Navajo Nation Council at the end of 2025 that the current education plan does not adequately cover the conditions of the original ruling.
To learn more about the Yazzie/Martinez v. the State of New Mexico case including upcoming meetings, visit https://web.ped.nm.gov/martinez-yazzie-action-plan/.
