Proposed changes to the New Mexico Public Education Department’s statewide science standards are meeting with criticism from state educators and concerned parents. Last month, the PED released a draft of the new policies, based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)—a new guide released in 2013 by Achieve, the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science which has been adopted by 18 states and the District of Columbia—but with significant changes to the language of the original guidelines. In a public statement released earlier this month by the New Mexico Science Teachers’ Association, the group objected to changes made to the NGSS guidelines regarding “the topics of evolution, earth history and climate change.” The PED’s proposed version would replace “evolution” with “biological diversity,” a “rise in global temperatures” with temperature “fluctuations,” and the Earth’s “4.6-billion-year history” with “geologic history.” A number of other pro-science organizations have also spoken against the draft, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, the National Science Teachers’ Association and the National Association of Biology Teachers. State leaders have also opposed the new standards. In a statement published by NMPolitics.net, state senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich encouraged readers “to speak out against this plan to undermine the quality of K-12 science education.” In a column for the Las Cruces Sun-News, state representatives G. Andrés Romero (District 10) and Bill McCamley (District 53) called the changes, “an attempt to politicize science education.” Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski has declined to specify who developed the proposed changes, telling the Santa Fe New Mexican the draft was based on input from “a bunch of different groups,” including “business groups, civic groups, teacher groups, superintendents.” The PED will be holding a public meeting concerning the standards on Monday, Oct. 16 in Mabry Hall at the Jerry Apodaca Education Building (300 Don Gaspar Ave, Santa Fe) from 9am to noon. Written comments will be accepted until 5pm.
Newscity: Sick Leave Ordinance Fails Sick Leave Ordinance Fails
A city ordinance that would have required Albuquerque employers to offer paid sick leave to workers failed to pass last week by a narrow margin. According to unofficial results released by the county, the ordinance was voted down by just over 700 votes. The ordinance would have required any business owner with a physical presence within the city limits to provide an hour of sick leave to employees for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 40 or more employees would have been required to allow their workers to accumulate up to 56 hours of earned sick time per year while those with fewer than 40 employees would have been required to allow their workers to accumulate up to 40 hours of sick time per year. The election ends a debate that has lasted for more than a year, beginning when the “Healthy Workforce” campaign launched a petition drive last year which gathered more than 14,000 signatures in support of the ordinance.
