EDGEWOOD — Gov. Susana Martinez on Tuesday signed into law legislation that enacts the first step of her plan for reforming New Mexico's struggling education system.

Before a crowd of excited children, teachers and parents at Route 66 Elementary School, Martinez signed a bill that allows grades from A to F to be assigned to New Mexico's public schools based on student performance. The governor and other supporters say the grade system will make schools more accountable and help parents and communities understand how their schools rank.

"Rewarding excellence, recognizing progress and addressing failure are keys to improving our education system," Martinez said. "Our efforts to bring real accountability to our schools, to get real results for our children, is the only way for us to reform our state."

The Legislature approved the school grading proposal in the waning hours of the session that wrapped up earlier this month. The grades will be based on students' performance on standardized tests and on growth of student performance in reading and mathematics. Other factors include high-school graduation rates.

Under the program, parents of a student in a school rated F for two years can send their child to any public school that's not failing or they can use an online "cyberacademy" in New Mexico.

If a school receives a failing grade for two consecutive years, Martinez said the state will intervene by funneling more resources to the school to improve student achievement.

Opponents have said the legislation leaves too many details to the Public Education Department, such as developing the standards for what constitutes each of the A-to-F grades. An advisory group of school district superintendents will have a voice in developing those guidelines.

With the legislation signed, Martinez said the work to implement the grading system will now begin. She expects every public school in the state to have a letter grade by next fall.

The grades will be posted online.

Martinez said her administration doesn't know how many schools might receive failing grades, but she pointed out that New Mexico's education system has long been ranked near the bottom.

Among the list of dismal statistics mentioned by the governor: 75 percent of New Mexico schools are labeled as failing by the U.S. Department of Education,
80 percent of fourth-graders can't read proficiently, only 66 percent of students are graduating from high school, and the state recently received a failing grade from a national education group when it came to student achievement.

"Those are some huge issues that we've got to start addressing immediately, so I think the numbers will be frightening, but we've got to now take that opportunity and start turning that around," Martinez said. "Once we know which schools need those resources, we need to move forward and start getting those kids to learn."

Sen. Vernon Asbill, the Republican lawmaker from Carlsbad who sponsored the legislation, said one of the most important aspects of the grading system is letting parents know in a simple way where their child's school stands.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools are rated on whether they are making "adequate yearly progress" in meeting targets for boosting student achievement. Supporters of the grading system said the current system is bewildering to parents and others because it assigns vague labels, such as "corrective action" or "restructuring," to schools missing the performance goals.

Martinez said she is hopeful the grades will inspire parents, nonprofit groups and communities to rally around failing schools and that the successes of schools such as Route 66 Elementary can be replicated elsewhere. Route 66 is one of three New Mexico schools nominated this year for a federal "Blue Ribbon" award.



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