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NM Lawmakers To Hear From Early Childhood Education Experts

 

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Key New Mexico lawmakers are scheduled to listen to early childhood education experts as advocates push to expand pre-Kindergarten classes through the state.

Lawmakers who help to set spending priorities for New Mexico each year will team up with the National Conference of State Legislatures and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation at a special legislative hearing on Thursday in Santa Fe. State lawmakers are seeking to chart ways to boost early childhood education programs and strengthen the safety net for children.

But liberal Democrats remain divided with moderate Democrats and Republicans on how the state should pay for proposed expanded programs.

The debate comes as a new report found the number of children living in poverty and without health insurance increased in New Mexico in 2016.