Senate committee gives ‘do pass’ to High Quality Literacy Instruction Act after hours of testimony

The New Mexico Senate Education Committee advanced Senate Bill 37, the High Quality Literacy Instruction Act, after a morning hearing that included presentations from the bill sponsor, the Public Education Department (PED) and more than a dozen educators, parents and advocacy groups.

Madam Pro Tem, the bill’s sponsor, framed SB37 as a package to standardize "structured literacy" across New Mexico schools, saying, "We're seeing 10–12% gains in reading proficiency in some grades" as districts implement evidence-based practices. She told the committee the bill would require preservice educators to learn reading instruction aligned with the science of reading, require structured-literacy instruction K–3, ensure high-quality materials and create reading interventions through grade 12.

Jacqueline Costales, executive director of curriculum and instruction at PED, said the department has observed roughly 10 percentage point growth in third-through-eighth-grade proficiency since 2022 and emphasized the bill’s provisions for bilingual and English-learner students. "Parents are notified immediately when students are struggling," Costales said, describing the bill’s parent-notification and read-at-home plan components and PED’s intent to support districts with templates and vendor tools to reduce teacher reporting burden.

Supporters at the hearing included educators’ groups, nonprofits and business organizations. Charles Goodmacher of NEA New Mexico urged the committee to back the bill while warning about teacher workload. Mandy Torres of Think New Mexico backed the legislation’s training and culturally responsive language but asked why literacy assessment timelines differ from the math bill. Dominika Chavez of New Mexico Kids Can cited statewide reading gains from 36% to 44% since 2022 and urged timely parent notification: "This parent-perception gap highlights the importance of parent notification and reading improvement plans," she said.

District and practitioner testimony described local gains and implementation concerns. Randy Malherwein, deputy superintendent for Albuquerque Public Schools, said APS strongly supports the bill’s coherent statewide approach. A principal from Pajarito Elementary described targeted coaching that has improved teacher precision and confidence. Marla Schoetz of the New Mexico Coalition of Education Leaders and Jamie Gonzales of Public Charter Schools of New Mexico supported the bill’s goals but asked how coaches would be recruited and cautioned about unfunded-mandate risks if appropriation gaps remain.

Committee members pressed the sponsor and PED on implementation details, including staffing for assessments, the source and cost of high-quality instructional materials and how coaches would be identified and deployed. The sponsor said $55,000,000 is already in the budget for instructional materials and described plans for a literacy institute and shared training pipelines to identify coach candidates. PED said it plans 138 school walkthroughs this semester to support implementation, using brief structured-literacy walkthroughs reported through existing Elevate data systems and a mix of in-person and virtual follow-up.

Senator Thornton pressed on whether the bill should include a third-grade retention requirement; the sponsor said retention is possible under current law but declined to add a retention mandate to SB37 now, arguing retention without fully built-out structured-literacy systems would be unfair. "Where it does work is at the very early grades," the sponsor said, adding that other states pair any retention policy with targeted interventions.

On procedural action, Senator Ezell moved that the committee pass SB37; the motion was seconded by Senator Ramos and a roll call was taken. Named senators recorded affirmative responses and the chair announced a committee "do pass" recommendation.

The committee chair said only the literacy bill would be completed that day because of a winter storm and adjourned, scheduling the math bill and other education items for the Monday meeting at 8:30 a.m.

What’s next: SB37 now moves with a committee "do pass" recommendation for further consideration on the floor and to follow-up work on rulemaking and implementation details if enacted. The committee flagged several items for continued attention, including coach funding, vendor support for assessment dashboards and ensuring flexibility for culturally and linguistically relevant materials.