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SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 3
57
TH LEGISLATURE
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
FIRST SESSION
, 2025
INTRODUCED BY
Cindy Nava and Angel M. Charley and Derrick J. Lente
A JOINT MEMORIAL
HONORING NEW MEXICO'S INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
BILINGUAL EDUCATION FACULTIES' EFFORTS AND REQUESTING THE
LEGISLATURE TO DECREE A JOINT BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN ELEMENTARY
BILINGUAL MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AMONG THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW
MEXICO, WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY, NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
UNIVERSITY AND NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY.
WHEREAS, on the evening of the fifty-second anniversary of
the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act, the legislature
acknowledges the need for well-prepared bilingual and
multilingual educators who will serve the unique cultural and
linguistic diversity of New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, the university of New Mexico was
designated as the recipient of funding to design and develop an
undergraduate bilingual education degree with New Mexico
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highlands university, eastern New Mexico university, New Mexico
state university and western New Mexico university; and
WHEREAS, in New Mexico, bilingual faculty from the state's
institutions of higher education have developed and taught
bilingual coursework since the early 1970s; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico highlands university developed and
implemented a master's degree program in bilingual education in
1971 through 1975; and
WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico established the
American Indian language policy research and teacher training
center in 2007 to support indigenous language maintenance and
revitalization initiatives; and
WHEREAS, numerous bilingual education faculty from across
the state's institutions of higher education have provided
expert testimony at state, federal and congressional hearings
and commissions regarding the need for supporting bilingual
education policies and programing; and
WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico's Native American
bilingual faculty were instrumental in the development and
implementation of a New Mexico 520 alternative certification
process to increase the number of Native American language
teachers in New Mexico public schools; and
WHEREAS, recent efforts of bilingual education faculty in
New Mexico's institutions of higher education have resulted in
the development of bilingual chapters of educators increasing
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in New Mexico in feeder high schools and in institutions of
higher education for the purpose of growing new generations of
bilingual teachers; and
WHEREAS, the Spanish proficiency endorsement exam, whose
name translates to "la prueba for Spanish bilingual teachers",
was co-created in the 1990s by a New Mexico highlands
university bilingual faculty member to ensure that students
receive high-quality instruction in New Mexico public schools;
and
WHEREAS, New Mexico adopted the state seal of
bilingualism-biliteracy in 2014 to encourage the study of
languages among New Mexico's secondary students; and
WHEREAS, numerous bilingual education faculty in New
Mexico institutions of higher education have served in
leadership positions on the bilingual multicultural education
advisory council, the New Mexico association for bilingual
education and dual language education of New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, there is a dire shortage of bilingual teachers,
resulting in the inability of the state to respond to major
findings of fact and conclusions of law in the Martinez/Yazzie
v. State of New Mexico case and to fulfill the promise
envisioned in the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the higher education department be
requested to work with the university of New Mexico, western
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New Mexico university, New Mexico highlands university and New
Mexico state university bilingual education faculty to develop
a joint bachelor's degree in elementary bilingual multicultural
education; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the higher education
department be requested to review and address the need for
providing scholarships for individuals who currently hold a
bachelor's or master's degree in bilingual education, or
students who graduated with a state seal of bilingualism-
biliteracy on the students' New Mexico diploma of excellence,
to cover the cost of pursuing a doctorate in bilingual
education in order to teach bilingual education to college of
education students at state institutions of higher education in
New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that funds be made available to
support an increase of bilingual education faculty lines to
support this joint elementary bilingual multicultural education
degree; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that students who graduate with the
state seal of bilingualism-biliteracy be granted college credit
in a language other than English throughout all institutions of
higher education, including indigenous students, regardless of
whether those students' languages are written or oral; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the higher education
department be requested to review and address the need for
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providing scholarships for students pursuing bilingual
multicultural education teaching degrees or bilingual
multicultural education terminal degrees in New Mexico
universities and colleges; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education
department be requested to fully address, fund and support the
linguistic rights of New Mexico's bilingual multicultural
students, as provided for in Article 12, Section 8 of the
constitution of New Mexico, the Bilingual Multicultural
Education Act and the federal Native American Languages Act,
and comply with the court rulings of Serna v. Portales, Lau v.
Nichols, Castaneda v. Pickard and Martinez/Yazzie v. State of
New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the deans of the colleges of education of the
university of New Mexico, western New Mexico university, New
Mexico highlands university and New Mexico state university,
the secretary of public education and the secretary of higher
education.
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