First class but last place: New Mexico student achievement hits bottom despite record spending

Public-school students in New Mexico still languish behind their national peers in academic performance, despite hefty funding increases and legislative meetings to work on court-ordered reform. 

Although schools will receive a record $4.4 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, “achievement gaps remain, and (New Mexico) maintains its last place ranking nationwide,” according to a July 16 report to the state’s legislative finance committee.

The 2018 Yazzie v. Martinez court ruling mandated the state to create a plan for improving public schools. However, details on the plan were “noticeably absent” from this year’s report, wrote Leah Romero for the left-leaning Source New Mexico news organization. 

“Exponential investments in public education statewide is still not creating better outcomes for New Mexico students that are the heart of the Yazzie-Martinez reform,” Romero noted. 

‘Worst outcomes nationwide’ 

The lawsuit had ruled at-risk student groups – including those who are Native American, English language learners, economically disadvantaged or with disabilities – were not receiving an adequate public-school education. 

“For decades we were told that New Mexico is a ‘poor’ state and that if only we poured more money into government pre-K, K-12, and numerous other taxpayer-funded programs that improvement would come,” Paul Gessing, president of Rio Grande Foundation, wrote in a July 22 op-ed. 

“But, for the last decade the money to improve New Mexico has been available thanks to record-setting growth in oil and gas production. Despite massive spending growth in education and the creation of taxpayer-funded universal pre-K, our kids still face the worst outcomes nationwide.” 

One contributing factor involves the state’s high rate of chronically absent students, or those who miss 10% or more of school. The state saw a 119% increase in chronic absenteeism between 2019 and 2023, affecting more than 124,000 children – nearly 40% of the overall student population. 

An additional $9.3 million spent on attendance recovery programs and $20 million for additional staff failed to stop the increase in absenteeism, which is linked to lower academic proficiency and graduation rates. 

‘Outsized costs’ 

In addition to dismal outcomes for students, New Mexico has received criticism for suggesting drastic changes to school policies without considering practical implementation. 

For example, the state recently proposed rules to its universal school meal program requiring “outsized costs on schools for little or no benefit to children consuming the meals,” according to the foundation. 

One requirement forced at least half of schools to have a composting program. However, composting needs “significant land and proper management,” as facilities can catch fire in spontaneous combustion cases, the foundation noted. 

These proposals also failed to address the issue of public-school food waste, which has been estimated at 530,000 tons per year, or $9.7 million daily.