House Republicans Pass Budget To Reform Education, Increase Funding

Santa Fe, NM- This week, the House of Representatives passed a budget that
increases education funding, and more importantly directs these funds into New
Mexicos class rooms.
Putting the necessary resources in the classroom is a top priority for House
Republicans, said Representative Larry Larraaga, chair of the House
Appropriations Committee.
The budget calls for more spending on education than ever before. The total new
investment in K-12 education is $44.7 million, and those dollars are going into the
classroom to be spent on things like reading coaches, programs to help struggling
students, and debit cards for teachers to purchase classroom supplies.
Our budget raises the annual starting teacher salary from $32,000 to $34,000,
allowing us to attract and retain quality educators for our schools. We also allocate
funds to give $100 gift cards to every teacher to purchase classroom supplies, so
teachers can stop paying out of pocket to stock their classrooms.
More resources are going toward getting our kids an early start especially with
reading proficiently. The goal is getting them to read by the 3 rd grade. Pre-K funding
is essential to getting our kids off on the right foot. Also, K-3 Plus provides additional
instruction to more than 18,000 struggling students.
We also put $15 million toward the Reads to Lead, a program that helps struggling
readers with a blueprint to succeed, reading coaches and other resources for
parents and teachers to use.
When it comes to education, we cannot simply pass the buck. That is why we are
putting the necessary resources toward these initiatives and tackling education
issues head on, Representative Larraaga concluded.
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