Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for
standing finance committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the
accuracy of these reports if they are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Gonzales
/Sarinana/Mirabal Moya
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 2/17/25
SHORT TITLE
School Personnel Computer Science
Licensure
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 297
ANALYST Liu
APPROPRIATION*
(dollars in thousands)
FY25 FY26
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected $250.0 Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Relates to Senate Bill 242
Relates to appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC) Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Public Education Department (PED) Higher Education Department (HED) New Mexico Independent Community Colleges (NMICC) University of New Mexico (UNM) New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 297
House Bill 297 (HB297) appropriates $250 thousand from the general fund to PED to provide
professional development for teachers who want to obtain or maintain a computer science
endorsement in FY26 and FY27. This bill does not contain an effective date and, as a result,
would go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns if enacted, or June 20, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $250 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general House Bill 297 – Page 2
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY27 shall revert to the
general fund. Although the bill does not specify future appropriations, establishing a new grant
program could create an expectation the program will continue in future fiscal years; therefore,
this cost is assumed to be recurring.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Provisions of this bill would simply incorporate the existing secondary computer science license
endorsement pathways outlined in 6.64.20.8 NMAC, which were adopted in 2021. As such,
these changes will likely not affect secondary teachers seeking this endorsement.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
This bill relates to Senate Bill 242, which amends a similar section of statute to create additional
requirements for licensure related to the science of reading.
The executive, LESC, and LFC budget recommendations for public schools all include a three-
year pilot program to improve student math achievement, ranging from $15.5 million to $38.4
million. LESC further recommends a $6 million recurring appropriation for a science,
technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) initiative to PED, which could cover purposes
of this bill. LESC additionally recommends a $6 million, three-year pilot to create a STEM
innovation network to coordinate resources and entities involved in STEM across the state.
OTHER SUBSTANT IVE ISSUES
The Math and Science Advisory Council (MSAC), a 12-member council advising PED on policy
and programs related to the Mathematics and Science Education Act, recommended in its 2024
annual report:
Creating, implementing, funding, and recruiting educators to earn a kindergarten-to-sixth-
grade computer science licensure endorsement, and
Continuing to support and fund kindergarten-to-12
th
grade (K-12) teacher professional
learning opportunities in computer science and related ecosystems (i.e., connecting
classrooms, nonprofits, museums, and workforce partners).
In FY24, MSAC reported PED’s Math and Science Bureau partnered with the New Teacher
Project to provide a 40-hour virtual professional learning course for 34 educators to integrate
computer science into math and science.
In 2021, PED adopted a five-year plan to provide a K-12 computer science education to all
students by 2026. The plan included targets to:
Create teacher pathways for computer science endorsement,
Align annual course reviews and professional learning,
Meet seven out of nine Code.org Policy Principles,
Complete K-12 integration in the NM DASH platform,
Ensure 50 percent of districts and charters have an implementation plan,
Ensure 25 percent of districts and charters offer a computer science integrated course,
Ensure every high school offers a secondary computer science course,
Ensure every high school has computer science and information technology concentrators House Bill 297 – Page 3
or completers,
Ensure 50 percent of high schools offer computer science certifications for students,
Help 200 K-12 educators earn a computer science endorsement, and
Provide ongoing training for administrators and school staff, and
Acquire recurring funding sources from the Legislature to support computer science.
A 2016 LFC evaluation found the high tech industry in New Mexico hired a lower percent of
graduates with STEM degrees from New Mexico institutions than expected compared to the
industry national average. In other words, 75 percent of the workforce held a STEM degree in
computer systems design companies nationwide, but only 40 percent of New Mexico graduates
hired by computer systems design companies in New Mexico held a STEM degree. The cause of
this finding was unclear, but the report suggested that New Mexico high tech industries preferred
to hire STEM graduates from other states. Alternatively, it may mean that high tech companies
in New Mexico required a less STEM-knowledgeable workforce.
According to Code.org, an education nonprofit, nationwide nearly 60 percent of high schools
offered a foundational computer science course in 2024. New Mexico was slightly lower than the
national average at 54 percent. Access to computer science courses was relatively even across
geographic areas but more prevalent in larger high schools, with 42 percent of small high schools
offering computer science versus 91 percent in large high schools.
A 2020 national survey by Kapor Center and the Computer Science Teachers Association found
most computer science teachers in the United States identified as white (75 percent) and female
(64 percent) and were teaching predominantly in high income, urban, and less racially diverse
schools. Only 30 percent graduated with a computer science degree, 46 percent had a related
credential, and only 16 percent had more than 11 years of experience in teaching computer
science.
SL/hg/sgs