LESC bill analyses are available on the New Mexico Legislature website (www.nmlegis.gov). Bill analyses are
prepared by LESC staff for standing education committees of the New Mexico Legislature. LESC does not assume
any responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they are used for other purposes.
LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE
BILL ANALYSIS
57th Legislature, 1st S ession, 2025
Bill Number HB156 Sponsor Garratt/Stewart
Tracking Number .229401.1 Committee Referrals HEC/HAFC
Short Title Increase Educational Salaries
Original Date 1/29/2025
Analyst Armatage Last Updated
FOR THE LESGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE
BILL SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
The proposed bill would amend the School Personnel Act to raise minimum salaries for teachers
by $5 thousand at each tier to be $55 thousand for level 1 teachers, $65 thousand for level 2
teachers, and $75 thousand for level 3 teachers. Because minimum salaries for school counselors
and school leaders are tied to minimum teacher salaries, raising minimum teacher salaries will also
raise minimum salaries for these positions.
FISCAL IMPACT
The proposed bill does not include an appropriation.
LESC staff estimate raising minimum teacher salaries would cost the state $7.432 million,
including a benefits ratio of 0.275, after LESC’s FY26 budget proposal of 3 percent across the
board school personnel salary raises. The LESC recommendation for public school support in
FY26 includes $101.4 million for these 3 percent raises. The proposed FY26 executive budget also
recommends a 3 percent school personnel salary raise. T he Legislative Finance Committee (LFC)
budget proposal for FY26 includes a 4 percent across the board salary raise for all public school
personnel and $4.38 million to raise minimum teacher salaries by $5 thousand each.
SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Student A chievement. Research
has shown teachers are the most important school-related factor
influencing student outcomes, such as performance on reading and math assessments, likelihood of on- time high school graduation, and even college attendance, college completion, future
earnings, and other distal outcomes. Significantly, the court in the Martinez- Yazzie consolidated
education lawsuit found effective teachers were key to improving proficiency and concluded the quality of teaching for at-risk students was inadequate in New Mexico.
HB156 – Page 2
The need for highly effective teachers in New
Mexico is particularly great, with only 38
percent of students proficient in reading and 24
percent of students proficient in math,
according to data from the 2023- 2024 school
year (SY24). A high proportion of students are
at risk, with one in four children living in
poverty and higher than national averages of
students identified as English language
learners or students with disabilities. Statewide
academic achievement for these students
continues to lag those of their peers.
Educator Vacancies. The New Mexico
Educator Vacancy Report
produced by the
Southwest Outreach Academic Research Evaluation and Policy Center at New Mexico State University estimates New Mexico had
737 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year (SY25), a 2 percent
decrease from the prior year. The teaching areas with the highest need were special education (280 vacancies) and elementary teachers (179 vacancies). Educational
assistants accounted for nearly 30 percent (356
vacancies) of all educator vacancies reported.
Although this data represents the best
information currently available, estimations are imprecise, based on a single snapshot of public job postings.
While the number of teacher candidates completing educator preparation programs in New Mexico continues to recover after nearly a decade of plummeting, the number of teacher
candidates admitted to educator preparation programs decreased in SY24 for the first time since 2019—from 2,055 in SY23 to 1,826 in SY24. Educator Recruitment and R etention. Raising teacher minimum salaries is an important
mechanism to attract individuals to the profession and incentive teachers to move to the next
licensure tier.
National research
shows teacher salaries can affect the quality and quantity of individuals
preparing to become teachers, with individuals more likely to choose the teaching profession when salaries are competitive with other occupations. In 2019, the Economic Policy Institute, a national think tank,
estimated the national average wage penalty (meaning the gap between the wages of a
specific group of workers compared with other works that have similar education levels) for teachers was 19 percent. New Mexico ranked the third highest nationally in its teacher wage
penalty at an estimated 29.5 percent. New Mexico’s national average teacher salary ranking
improved after raising teacher minimum salaries and instituting substantial school personnel salary
HB156 – Page 3
raises in FY22. However, New Mexico’s average teaching salary remains below the national
average, and thus, teachers in the state likely continue to face a substantial wage penalty.
In FY22, the Legislature increased teacher minimum salaries by $10 thousand for each tier to be
$50 thousand for level one teachers, $60 thousand for level two teachers, and $70 thousand for
level three teachers. In SY24, LESC staff estimate average teacher salaries were $56 thousand
amongst level one teachers, $67 thousand amongst level two teachers, and $76 thousand amongst
level three teachers. This shows the teachers affected by again raising tier minimum salaries would
primarily be brand new teachers and those moving from one tier to the next who work in school
districts who have adopted teaching salary schedules aligned with state salary minimums. Some
school district salary schedules already exceed state minimums.
New Mexico’s average teaching salary is now the highest in the region, but it remains below the
national average. In addition, a 2023 LFC analysis found average teacher salaries in some of the
state’s highest living wage counties were well below the living wage for one adult and one child.
And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the $50 thousand minimum level one teacher
salary established in 2022 would need to increase to $54.8 thousand in 2024 to account for rising
inflation.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
• LESC Files
AA/mca/jkh