About 200 people from tribal governors to legislators to advocates and teachers gathered at Bishop’s Lodge to discuss Early Childhood Education’s future in New Mexico Wednesday.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham laid out a plan that includes better compensation for educators at all levels and better access to afterschool and summer programs.
“You’re not going to find anyone else anywhere in the country who’s driving with this energy, a system that is truly universal, that meets every child where he or she is that is easy to navigate that respects the workforce that changes poverty, that lifts the entire state for the first time in hundreds, if not 1,000s of years that respects language, that returns this state to a real multilingual multicultural state by doing all of it everywhere,” Lujan Grisham said. “But look no further than the people in this room who will not rest until we are clear that we will not lose one more language or have that risk in one more place anywhere in our state because it was all fractured: a little first sovereign nation and Head Start, little over here in a small community. Those days in New Mexico are gone. I declare success.”
Lujan Grisham also expressed a need for more faculty and staff in early childhood education.
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“We need more people who are encouraged to do this work and they should be compensated for their career choices and their expertise,” Lujan Grisham said.
She also spoke about ending rivalry between public and private schools in favor of a more universal tone.
“We have to shed those identities. They gotta go… We’re about kiddos and families. That’s a universal vision,” Lujan Grisham said. “Honestly, I’m not trying to erode or build either. People want the right choices for the right reasons. They do—I’d do it, too. That these labels, these identities, are limiting our ability to be at a universal place for kids and families.”
Early Childhood Education and Care Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Grogisnsky also spoke at the summit.
“We have a tremendous group of people in the room, many of whom have been committed to building this… early childhood system for New Mexico families for the better part of two decades. I’m honored and humbled to be in the presence of so many extraordinary leaders,” Groginsky said.
Groginsky spoke about New Mexico’s progress with early childhood programs since November 2019.
“Early Care and Education in New Mexico looks very different today than it did in 2019 thanks to the bold and forward thinking vision of the governor and the New Mexican legislature,” Groginsky said. “The decision to create a cabinet level early childhood education care agency that could better focus and coordinate the work including creating the Assistant Secretary for Native American Education and Care, requiring the department to create a four-year finance plan and implement the wage and career ladder has been a game changer for New Mexico families.”
In 2021, New Mexico had 70 percent of Pre-K students enrolling in kindergarten, Groginsky said.
“We are now at 84 percent heading to 93 (percent) and on to 97 (percent),” she said. “Home Visiting— this is representing universal access for births funded by Medicaid alongside reaching all families with universal light touch home visiting family connections. We are serving 30 percent of the population that would be eligible for (Family Infant and Toddler Program). That is the highest in the nation.”
Lujan Grisham appointed Groginsky as New Mexico’s first Early Childhood Education and Care Cabinet Secretary in November 2019.