The 30-day 2012 New Mexico legislative session ended at noon Thursday. It was jam packed with bills regarding taxes, government reform, criminal justice, immigration and, yes, education. At the last Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education meeting, Vice-president Glenn Wikle, joining other board members and district personnel in urging the public to keep track of education bills that impact the district, aptly noted, "It's a full-time job just following one bill."

I followed about a half-dozen education bills, and they all came to a dead end as the timer ran out at noon Thursday. Gov. Susana Martinez's push to stop the practice of social promotion for students who could not read to grade level by the third grade didn't get the chance to garner a vote either way despite a last-minute push by one of its supporters,
Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texico. Nor did companion or rival bills -- most of the latter leaving the decision to hold kids back in the hands of parents and educators, and not the state -- go anywhere. Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said earlier in the session that the state holding a child back against parental wishes was "the poison pill in the bill."

After the session, the governor, who tried twice before to get similar reading bills passed, said she wasn't giving up. "I'll be back for it every single time," she told reporters.

Various bills regarding revamping the teacher-evaluation system stalled too. Roch introduced a bill that would base 35 percent of a teacher's evaluation on their students' test scores. An earlier version called for 50 percent of the teacher's grade to be based on how their students scored on standardized tests. Teacher unions contested that idea, and some sided with Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, who came up with a competing bill that would base evaluations on various student-growth assessments (but not tests) and annual reviews conducted by qualified peer evaluators. Soon it was very difficult to keep track of who was supporting which bill introduced by which legislator on both the social promotion and teacher-evaluation issue.

Meanwhile, the Senate Rules Committee, which schedules confirmation hearings for the governor's cabinet secretaries, managed to find time to confirm six secretaries -- but not Secretary of Education-designate Hanna Skandera. Two Democratic senators with some clout gave me their view on that deal: One basically said some long-term legislators don't like the idea of someone coming in from another state and telling New Mexicans how to conduct education; the other said the lack of official confirmation gives the Legislature more weight in "continuing a dialogue about education" with Skandera.

There is talk that the governor and her secretary-designate may still tackle the teacher-evaluation issue via regulation (meaning they won't necessarily need legislative approval). Social promotion will likely wait another year.

The governor and Skandera have been moving fast in an effort to transform our educational system. Martinez has argued that the state cannot waste time. She and Skandera seem to be pushing up against an old-school attitude; something akin to "We'll give you educational reform -- our way. Slow down." For instance, Rep. Ray Begaye, D-Shiprock, introduced House Joint Memorial 2, which strove to establish a committee of experts to study assessment and evaluation issues for all third-grade students, including English-language learners and Native Americans. It urged caution, research and patience. His proposal went nowhere.

Hasty climbers do sometimes take sudden falls, as the old proverb goes. But that doesn't mean they don't have the strength or determination to get back up and start climbing again.