Lawmakers vote to advance Hispanic education protection bill

By Lauren Lifke

Lawmakers voted Monday to advance a bill that would add protection and preservation of New Mexico’s heritage Spanish language and culture to existing law.

House Bill 487, sponsored by Rep. E. Diane Torres-Velásquez, D-Albuquerque, would amend the Hispanic Education Act. Implemented in 2010, the act sought to preserve educational opportunities for Hispanic students in the state and created a Hispanic education advisory council.

HB 487 aims to preserve New Mexico’s heritage Spanish language and implement formal biannual Hispanic education summits.

Superintendent of Lake Arthur Municipal schools Elisa Begueria spoke in support of the bill during  Monday’s House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee meeting. 

“This bill is an investment in our students and the future of New Mexico,” Begueria said. 

Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, is another sponsor of the bill. She said the act supports the intent of the 2018 Yazzie-Martinez v. State of New Mexico ruling, that New Mexico’s education system violated the right to adequate schooling for at-risk students, including Hispanic students.

“They stressed in the court order that we had to provide constitutionally sufficient and adequate education across the board,” Roybal Caballero said.

Protection of heritage Spanish language and culture was not initially written into the Hispanic Education Act, but it is in the New Mexico Constitution. The bill would codify the protection of  the language. New Mexican Spanish has been spoken in New Mexico since the 1600s, but experts estimate the dialect will fade by the end of this century.

“There have been researchers at UNM who have collected samples of the language, but what we want to do is protect it and continue its life,” Torres-Velásquez said.

The bill would also create a biannual Hispanic education summit. The council already meets twice per year, and the summit would provide an opportunity for community members to weigh in.

Think New Mexico Education Reform Director Mandi Torrez also spoke in support of the bill. 

“How you spend your money is reflective of your values,” Torrez said.

Torrez said funding for Hispanic-focused legislation was cut out of two proposed budgets before the session began, despite unmet obligations of the Yazzie-Martinez ruling.

“There is a concept in education that should be at the heart of what all schools do: cultural responsiveness,” Torrez said. “Culture must be present in our students’ learning experiences every day if they are to succeed.”