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Education Declines and Teacher’s Union Gives Award

I didn’t write about this last week, but I should have. The absurdity of the teacher’s union giving Governor Richardson America’s Greatest Education Governor Award is just shocking. It shows a complete disregard for student achievement as a measure of success:

New Mexico students did not improve their academic performance during the Richardson administration. The evidence suggests a very slight decline. The prestigious American Legislative Exchange Council, using many factors of evaluation, ranked New Mexico 48th in the nation in 2007, the same ranking it gave New Mexico in 2002. It ranked New Mexico 49th during most years of Richardson’s administration.

During the late 1990s New Mexico routinely scored in the low 40s, so the last few years represent a definite decline. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this year gave New Mexico an “F” in its report card for overall academic achievement, an “F” for the academic achievement of low income and minority students and an “F” for the return on investment per dollar spent.

I highly recommend reading the entire commentary written by Jose Z. Garcia.