Bilingual Education

NMSU works to recruit, train needed bilingual teachers

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Knowing a second language can be a big advantage: Being bilingual can help people get a job in a vast range of professions, from fast food employees to doctors, and it’s been shown that children who can speak, read and write in two or more languages have cognitive advantages over monolingual kids, from better attention to the ability to more easily switch tasks. In New Mexico, one would think more people would have a leg up when it comes to being bilingual because so many enter the school system speaking a language other than English . According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 35 percent of New Mexicans speak a language other than English at home, with 30 percent Spanish speakers.  

But with a shortage of bilingual and dual language classrooms in New Mexico, bilingual students may have a difficult time maintaining the Spanish they learned at home. English learners have a diminished opportunity to become biliterate, or even succeed in school at all.

2019 legislative session

Move to open primaries represents growing number of unaffiliated voters

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Christa Frederickson just after she voted in the 2016 primary election. Christa Fredrickson is a registered Democrat in Doña Ana County, but says that’s only because she needed to be a Democrat in order to vote in a primary election a few years ago. She has more than once changed her party affiliation to vote in a particular  primary election, because she thinks they’re important. But she doesn’t consider herself a Democrat or a Republican, or a Libertarian for that matter. Those are the major parties in New Mexico, currently.

2019 Legislative Session

Lawmakers aim to make voter registration automatic, more convenient

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A group of legislators want to ensure more New Mexicans can vote by making registration easier. They’re proposing automatic voter registration when a person gets a driver’s license and they also want to allow registration right at the polls. Eligible voters already can register or update their registration when applying for or renewing a driver’s license or identification at the Motor Vehicle Division. House Bill 84 would make that process automatic, with an opt-out option for those who don’t want to register. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, and Democratic representatives from Albuquerque and Corrales — Daymon Ely, Debra Sariñana, Patricia Roybal Caballero and Joy Garratt.