Group Urging Shake-up in New Mexico

By Darcia Harris Bowman

A Sante Fe group is making waves with its recommendations to improve education in New Mexico by overhauling the public school system.

In a report released this month, members of the bipartisan organization Think New Mexico encourage state leaders to shift the power to hire teachers and other staff members, set curriculum, and oversee budgets from central district offices to individual schools.

The group also urges the state to allow more public schools to convert to independent charter schools, pass laws that allow parents and students to choose schools within and outside district boundaries, and create competition by tying education dollars to...