The New Mexico Public Education Department has picked two educational nonprofits — The Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation and national research and policy organization WestEd — to assist it in remedying educational shortcomings for at-risk students.
The partnership is an attempt to reach compliance with a recent order in the landmark education lawsuit Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico, in which a state District Court judge ruled in 2018 the state had failed to provide a proper education to several student groups: those who are low income, Native American and English-learning, and those with disabilities.
A judge in late April, in response to a motion by the plaintiffs, reiterated the department’s responsibility to remedy student outcomes and gave the agency until Oct. 1 to present the court with a plan to comply with the 2018 ruling.
The department said in a news release this week it had requested proposals for partnerships to assist with the remedial plan.
The LANL Foundation will “focus on organizing and supporting stakeholder engagement” to craft the plan, the news release said.
WestEd, which will “focus on the development of the plan,” is a San Francisco-based educational nonprofit that operates nationwide but mostly with a Western U.S. focus, partnering with education stakeholders and lawmakers to guide policy.
“We are honored to bring our expertise and readiness to assist PED and WestEd in completing a transparent, trustworthy, and inclusive Action Plan that reflects the priorities of communities across the state,” Gwen Perea Warniment, president and CEO of the LANL Foundation, said in a statement.
According to the news release, a draft action plan is scheduled to be submitted to the court by Oct. 1, with a final version scheduled Nov. 3.