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NEA New Mexico Files Suit Against Public Education Department

Office of the Governor

  The National Education Association – New Mexico filed suit this week against the state’s Public Education Department.   The suit asks the state courts to force the Public Education Department to comply with state law and fulfill the Association’s requests for information.   NEA-New Mexico made three separate requests regarding the Public Education Department’s unilateral decision to impose state control over local school district evaluation of local teachers.

To date, the Public Education Department has ignored two of the information requests.  The third request was answered by a two-paragraph response that disproves their own assertion that previous teacher evaluation systems were broken because ninety-nine percent (99%) of teachers were deemed satisfactory. 

“The Governor and State Education Secretary-Designate have been going all over the state charging local school districts with failing in their evaluation of local teachers,” says NEA-New Mexico President Betty Patterson.  “While they undermine public confidence about teachers and charge local officials with incompetence, they provide no evidence to support their claims.”  

The Governor and State Education Secretary-Designate Hannah Skandera have used their charges against local school officials to create a one-size-fits-all evaluation system that effectively diminishes the role of local school leaders.  Their own response to NEA-New Mexico’s information request proves their claim is a “big lie,” and they have used that lie to trick others into repeating it.

‘Is it fact, or is it political fiction?” asks President Patterson.  “Whatever it is, the public and local schools teachers have a right to know.” 

By state law, state agencies have 15 days to reply to public information requests.  In extreme cases, the agency can expand that timeline.

In this case, the Public Education Department responded that it would provide the information by August 27 – over a month after the requests were made.   August 27 came and went without any response from the Education Secretary-Designate Skandera’s office.  Two of the three information requests are now entering their third month without any reply, and their reply to the third request only partially satisfied the request – there were no supporting documents as requested.

“The Governor and State Education Secretary-Designate Skandera made serious charges against local school officials.  Were they right, or did they pull the charge of out of thin air?” asks NEA-New Mexico Executive Director Charles Bowyer.  “Since they used those charges to force local school officials to implement the politically driven new evaluation system, it leaves serious doubt about the veracity of their charges.  Where is the transparency?  Refusing to let the public see behind the curtain only adds to those suspicions.”

The NEA-New Mexico law suit was filed in First Judicial District Court, County of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was assigned to Judge Raymond Ortiz. The association is being represented by The Jones Firm.