[NENA] Call Rep. Larry Larranaga about HB 331/346

Sun Mar 8 13:42:08 EDT 2009

John,

Since this study is touted as a FACT and  the definitive reason to raise my
taxes again,  I thought I would look it up,  it can be found here:
http://www.air.org/news/documents/new.mexico.volume1.pdf.

In general,  I found the methodology of the study to not be scientifically
rigorous.   It is base on opinions gathered from questionnaires and town
hall meeting with basically a self selecting group of people with a vested
interest in gaining more funding.   People can read the study and judge for
themselves the validity however.   This study is basically an opinion,  not
a FACT.

I would like to quote a few items from the Executive Summary of the study:

"Both the cost analyses derived from the PJPs and the PAP specifications
reveal similar patterns of variation in the cost of sufficiency associated
with student poverty, English learner status, student disability, student
mobility, and the scale of school and district operations. It is important
to note that there were some differences among the panels in the program
designs and resource specifications they felt were necessary for achieving
sufficiency. To some degree, these differences resulted from a lack of
universal agreement in the professional literature in education as to "what
works." This suggests that there is no uniform model of services from which
an unambiguous, single estimate of the cost of achieving sufficiency can be
derived."  Pg v

"In doing so, the panels were explicitly told to focus primarily on the
comprehensive set of resources and services necessary to achieve the desired
goals. They were told further not to think explicitly about specific revenue
sources (e.g., Title I, IDEA, or other categorical funding programs) that
might be used to support specific categories of classroom teachers, resource
teachers, specialists, etc., necessary to implement their program designs.
Asking the panels to ignore specific revenue streams in this fashion was
done for two reasons. First, it is undesirable to constrain the use of
specific resources, as is regularly done with those supported by categorical
funding streams. And second, doing so would inherently impose a budget
constraint that undermines the primary intention of the process: that is, to
identify how much funding is necessary to provide a sufficient education
comprehensive enough to meet the needs of all students."    Pg vi

Too bad I can't run my business that way!!!

"A Cautionary Note 

Although the PJPs and PAP developed instructional designs with which schools
could construct a sufficient opportunity to meet the goals set forth by the
state, AIR does not recommend that the theoretical designs become mandates
for local practice. However insightful the instructional designs created by
these panels or persuasive the case for their effectiveness, the intention
of this exercise was not to create a "one size fits all" prescription for
best educational practices. Rather, the model provides a systematic process
with which to determine the level of expenditures needed to provide a
sufficient education across a wide range of circumstances (i.e., needs and
scale of operations). To take full advantage of the creativity, commitment,
and experience of local educators, we recommend allowing them discretion to
determine exactly how funds should be used. Of course, that discretion
should be necessarily coupled with an effective accountability system and
governance structure to ensure that districts are accountable to the
Legislature and the taxpayers in their provision of a sufficient education."
Pg xiv

At the conclusion of the study:  "Finally, it is important to recognize that
investment in education by itself will not guarantee the desired outcomes.
The success of our children depends on a multitude of factors that affect
their ability to learn and thrive in the complex world in which we live."

Like stated above,  this study is not rigorous and should not be used as a
basic to extract more taxpayer dollars to support a broken system.  

From: members-bounces at noreste.org [mailto:members-bounces at noreste.org] On
Behalf Of John Ingram
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 9:41 AM
To: members at noreste.org; JEFFREY BETH PETERSON
Cc: ingram1ja at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [NENA] Call Rep. Larry Larranaga about HB 331/346

NENA President Jeffrey Beth:

Thanks for your reply and opinion about my legislative email alert.

However, I respectfully disagree with you and former state rep. Don Silva.

I painstakenly reviewed my alert to learn what you and Don are complaining
about. 

Clearly, I DID NOT distribute POLITICAL OPINION. 

I did distribute a number of FACTS, which are highlighted below. 

However, I'm disappointed and confused by your email. Here's why: whenever a
bill, issue or concern comes before City Council or Planning Commission
which impacts NENA, our neighbors, or our schools, we use the website and
email list to alert everyone with factual information so they can express
their concerns, or choose to do nothing. 

The main point is to make information available so everyone in NENA, who
chooses to get involved or not, can make an informed decision. 

My email legislative alert was distributed to NENA in that spirit. 

Please explain why you think it's OKAY to distribute information and FACTS
about city council proposals, but it's not OKAY to distribute information
about state legislative bills that impact La Cueva HS, Desert Ridge MS,
Dennis Chavez ES, North Star ES, etc.?

Finally, I would like to know which of the following, in your mind, are
opinions and should not be shared with NENA members? Please respond.

#1: A professional study group was commissioned to determine why too many of
our schools and students are performing so poorly. The commission issued a
report several months ago with the finding that the State Legislature, which
controls education funding, has consistently underfunded our schools by
about 15% a year, or $350 million annually.

#2: In 1981, the State Legislature voted to remove property taxes as the
sole source of school funding. Instead, the majority of legislators voted to
be accountable and responsible for funding our schools with state income
taxes, gross receipts/sales taxes, and a small percentage of the interest
generated by investing the $7.9 billion Permanent School Fund in Wall
Street. 

#3: Since 1982, K-12 and (now) pre-K public school funding has steadily
declined from more than 50% of the overall NM state budget to 43% today.

#4: The NM State Constitution legally requires the Legislature to
"sufficiently" fund our schools.

#5:  The study commission reported that the State Legislature is not meeting
its constitutional mandate. 

#6: School districts are threatening to sue the Legislature in district
court regarding this issue unless they pass HB 331/346.

#7: HB 331/346 will increase gross receipts/sales taxes by three-quarters of
one percent and produces about $350 million annually to fund our public
schools.

#8: Rep. Stewart, sponsor of HB 331/346, amended the bills, so HB 33/346 no
longer requires an increase in state income taxes for top earners who are
paying 4.9 percent rate in the spirit of compromise with the ABQ Chamber of
Commerce.

#9: The
<http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/committeedisplay.aspx?CommitteeCode=HAFC>
House Appropriations & Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on
HB 331/346, Sunday, Mar 8, at 1:30 pm at State Capitol in House Finance
Committee Room.

#10: The House Finance Committee must pass HB 331/346 out of committee
before the bills can go to the House for a floor vote.

#11: NENA's representative in the House is Rep. Larry Larranaga. Rep.
Larranaga also sits on the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

I MIGHT AGREE WITH YOU THAT THE FOLLOWING ISN'T A FACT, BUT MAY BE JUST MY
OPINION: #12: Rep. Larranaga is a powerful, and well respected legislator
who listens to his constituents and wants to do the best he can for our
public schools.

#13: Rep. Larranaga is planning to vote NO on HB 331/346 (Larry will verify
this if you call him - State Capitol: 986-4215, home: 821-4948).

#14:  Research and Polling, INC. did a survey of registered voters on this
issue. Friday's ABQ Journal, page 3 reported that a majority supports HB
331/346.

MY RECOMMENDATION TO CALL LARRY MIGHT BE AN OPINION, BUT IF YOU WANT HIM TO
VOTE NO, THEN YOUR OPTION TO CALL LARRY IS AVAILABLE TO YOU, TOO: #15: If
you believe HB 331/346 is in order, and we must increase funding for our
schools, please call Larry, and have others who live at your home, who are
registered voters, call him, too.

John Adams Ingram, Dues-paying NENA member and former NENA President

--- On Sat, 3/7/09, JEFFREY BETH PETERSON <ainsleyann at msn.com> wrote:

From: JEFFREY BETH PETERSON <ainsleyann at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [NENA] Call Rep. Larry Larranaga about HB 331/346
To: members at noreste.org, "John Ingram" <ingram1ja at yahoo.com>
Cc: ingram1ja at yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2009, 9:41 PM

John:

 While I appreciate YOUR stance on the subject issue as well as your past
efforts to better our community through your involvement in the neighborhood
association, I have to believe that you well understand that the NENA
website is NOT intended for distributing political OPINIONS or garnering
support for said opinions. If you feel so strongly about this, please feel
free to go door to door in person to make your case but please do NOT use
the NENA website to promote any agendas.

You can continue the back and forth with the persons you have engaged on
this issue from your initial email and can CC me if you wish, but please
leave the remainder of the Association out of your discourse. Anyone who
wishes to discuss this further with you, may do so on a one-on-one basis.

Thank You

Jeff Peterson,

President, NENA 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: John Ingram
<http://us.mc1105.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ingram1ja@yahoo.com>  

To: members at noreste.org
<http://us.mc1105.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=members@noreste.org>  

Cc: ingram1ja at yahoo.com
<http://us.mc1105.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ingram1ja@yahoo.com>  

Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 10:13 AM

Subject: [NENA] Call Rep. Larry Larranaga about HB 331/346

Hello NENA members:

My name is John Ingram. I used to be president of NENA. I live on NW corner
of Henriette Wyeth and Oakland, 8901 Henriette Wyeth NE.

There's an urgent matter regarding our public schools, and State House Dist.
27 Rep. Larry Larranaga coming-up tomorrow, Sunday, Mar 8.

Background: 3 years ago, the State Legislature commissioned a study by
outside professional group to determine why too many of our schools and
students are performing so poorly. 

The commission issued a report several months ago with the finding that the
State Legislature, which controls education funding, has consistently
underfunded our schools by about 15% a year, or $350 million annually. This
goes back to 1982.

FYI: in 1981, the Legislature voted to remove property taxes as the sole
source of school funding. Instead, they voted to be accountable and
responsible for funding our schools with state income taxes, gross
receipts/sales taxes, and a small percentage of the interest generated by
investing the $7.9 billion Permanent School Fund in Wall Street. 

Since 1982, K-12 and (now) pre-K public school funding has steadily declined
from more than 50% of the overall NM state budget to 43% today. 

However, the NM State Constitution legally requires the Legislature to
"sufficiently" fund our schools. 

The study commission reported that the State Legislature is not meeting its
constitutional mandate. School districts are threatening to sue the
Legislature in district court regarding this issue unless they pass HB
331/346.

House Bill 331/346, sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart, will help correct this
problem. 

House Bill 331/346 increases gross receipts/sales taxes by three-quarters of
one percent and produces about $350 million annually to fund our public
schools. 

Rep. Stewart amended the bills yesterday so HB 33/346 no longer requires an
increase in state income taxes for top earners who are paying 4.9 percent
rate. 

Now, the sole source of the additional $350 million generated by HB 331/346
is the 3/4 of 1% increase in gross receipts/sales taxes.

Rep. Stewart is a personal/professional friend of mine. I checked with her
yesterday about HB 331/346 and progress toward passing the measures. 

Rep. Stewart informed me that the
<http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/committeedisplay.aspx?CommitteeCode=HAFC>
House Appropriations & Finance Committee with hold a hearing on HB 331/346
tomorrow, Sunday, Mar 8, at 1:30 pm at State Capitol in House Finance
Committee Room. 

The House Finance Committee must pass HB 331/346 out of committee so the
bills can go to the House for a floor vote. 

NENA's representative in the House is Rep. Larry Larranaga. 

Rep. Larranaga also sits on the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.
He is a powerful, and well respected legislator who listens to his
constituents and wants to do the best he can for our public schools. I've
talked to him many times.

However, Rep. Larranaga is planning to vote NO on HB 331/346 tomorrow. 

If you believe that HB 331/346 is in order, and we must increase funding for
our schools, please call Larry, and have others who live at your home, who
are registered voters, call him, too. 

By the way, Research and Polling, INC. did a survey of registered voters on
this issue. Friday's ABQ Journal, page 3 reported that a majority supports
HB 331/346.

Here are links so you can check this out if you need to: 

 <http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HLARR> Rep.
Larranaga ,
<http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/09%20Regular/bills/house/HB0331.html> HB
331 ,
<http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/09%20Regular/bills/house/HB0346.html> HB
346

If you want, or need, to talk to me about this issue, my mobile phone is
505-217-8020.

Thanks for your consideration,

John

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