The ultimate goals of the New Mexico Public School Funding study include (1) determining what it will cost to provide an adequate education for all New Mexican students, (2) examining and potentially modifying the current funding formula to distribute the necessary resources and (3) assessing potential available revenue sources to fund any necessary changes.
To accomplish these goals, the study will be carried out in four major phases: (1) setting goals, (2) costing-out, (3) developing a funding formula, and (4) assessing revenues. A flowchart and details of the tasks for each phase are found below:
Phase I - Setting Goals
The purpose of this phase is three-fold:
- Public awareness -- to inform the public about the project,
- Seeking public input on goals -- to identify how New Mexicans envision the goals of its public schools, and
- Seeking public input on what is needed -- to seek public input on what needs to be done to achieve those goals.
To identify these goals and educational priorities, the AIR research team will:
- examine the existing definition of educational 'adequacy' as implied by state law and
- solicit input through a series of surveys of
- key constituencies and
- in open town hall meetings that will be held in various venues around the state.
Phase II - Costing-Out
This second phase involves determining the costs of ensuring that all students in the state of New Mexico have access to the programs and resources necessary to achieve the goals established in the earlier phase of the project.
To determine the costs of ensuring access to instructional programs, AIR will solicit input through two distinct panels: the Research Expert Panel (REP) and Professional Judgment Panel (PJPs). AIR will work these teams of programmatic experts (i.e., the REP) and New Mexico educators (i.e., our PJPs) to:
- design alternative instructional programs,
- specify the resources to deliver those programs to the diversity of students across the state, and
- help us estimate a range of costs for these programs and resources.
This comprehensive cost analysis will also take into account variations in:
- Need - Pupil needs (e.g., student poverty, English language skills, disabilities, exceptionalities, vocational interests, and mobility),
- Scale - the scale of school and district operations, and
- Price - variations in the cost of comparable resources (e.g., teachers and other school personnel) across different regions of the state.
Phase III - Developing a Funding Formula
In the third phase, AIR will use the results of the costing-out exercise as the foundation for recommending changes or modifications to the way schools are currently funded in New Mexico. This funding formula will address how best to distribute resources to ensure the provision of an adequate education to all students, regardless of circumstance or location.
The Phase III tasks include:
- conducting supporting studies to evaluate geographic cost variations, district central administration, maintenance and operations, and transportation costs,
- developing a simulation model to estimate costs of the specified adequate resources,
- performing a comparative analysis of current versus adequate expenditures and relationships to student outcomes,
- convening Stakeholder/Professional Judgment Review Team meeting, and
- making funding formula suggestions.
Phase IV - Assessing Revenues
AIR will conduct an analysis on the prospective existing revenue sources and identify potential revenue sources that could be called upon in order to provide the necessary funding to support an adequate education across all school districts. The fourth phase will produce:
- a detailed report on the potential revenue streams the state might turn to in order to properly finance an adequate public education as defined by the process detailed above,
- a deliverable simulation model and instruction on how it can be easily updated in the years to come, and a
- legislative consultation and testimonial support by key research team members.
Summary of Adequacy Analysis
The methodology we will conduct for this study features the best elements of three of the major approaches known to date for addressing educational adequacy. In addition to the expertise and experience of New Mexico educators derived through the professional judgment process, it draws upon research-based evidence and practical information from the state's most successful schools to accomplish the goals and objectives established for public education in state.
The entire process and set of tasks described above are designed to develop a foundation from which we will be able to estimate the total amount of the investment necessary for providing the level of excellence demanded in K-12 education in New Mexico. It is also important to acknowledge what public education needs to provide varying student populations so they will be able to reach the learning standards and proficiency levels required by the state. Our analysis will provide an estimate of the costs for every school and for every school district in the state to achieve these goals.
The AIR team will also work with a Stakeholder Panel, comprised of representatives from various constituencies throughout the state, to determine the best ways to operationalize the analysis and to translate the results of the study into a viable and meaningful funding formula that will help the schools, districts, and the state to achieve mutually agreed upon goals of the public school system in New Mexico.
