HM 47

1A MEMORIAL
2  REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE TO
3  CONDUCT A STUDY EXAMINING REQUIREMENTS AND PRACTICES RELATED
4  TO TEACHER WORKLOADS AND THE STRUCTURE OF INSTRUCTIONAL DAYS
5  AND TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS TO SUPPORT HIGH-QUALITY
6  INSTRUCTION AND TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS THAT INCLUSIVELY
7  BENEFIT ALL NEW MEXICO STUDENTS.
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9WHEREAS, research consistently identifies quality
10 teachers as the single most important in-school factor to
11 positively influence student achievement and outcomes; and
12      WHEREAS, New Mexico teachers are responsible for
13 providing tailored instruction to students with varied
14 cultural, linguistic, developmental and socioeconomic
15 backgrounds, as well as a wide range of individual learning
16 needs across the state's urban, rural, frontier and tribal
17 communities; and
18      WHEREAS, to support student learning, achievement of
19 instructional goals and local community needs and priorities,
20 New Mexico teachers are responsible for core instructional
21 duties and professional responsibilities requirements at both
22 state and local levels; and
23      WHEREAS, research indicates that teachers in New Mexico
24 and across the nation spend a substantial and increasing
25 portion of their working time on non-instructional duties,      HM 47
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1  including lesson preparation; professional development and
2  self-review; student assessments; development and monitoring
3  of individualized education plans; compliance activities; and
4  various other duties; and
5WHEREAS, teachers are increasingly responsible for
6  administering multiple summative, formative and interim
7  assessments and specialized assessments across instructional
8  areas, as well as ensuring students' well-being by
9  understanding and addressing students' needs for both current
10 and long-term academic success; and
11WHEREAS, fragmented and disconnected education data
12 systems, including school accountability and student
13 assessment data, require teachers to devote substantial
14 efforts to non-instructional tasks, such as data analysis and
15 reporting, to inform responsive student interventions and
16 differentiation, reducing teachers' available time for
17 instruction, collaboration and professional learning; and
18WHEREAS, proposals that could further increase teacher
19 workload, such as literacy and mathematics screening, family
20 and parent notification and development of individualized
21 student plans, continue to be considered by the legislature;
22 and
23WHEREAS, the 2023 legislative education study committee
24 report "Leveraging Learning Time in New Mexico" noted that
25 improving and protecting educators' professional work time is   HM 47
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1  directly connected to the necessary conditions in school
2  environments for improved student outcomes; and
3WHEREAS, according to the publication "No Time to Lose"
4  by a study group of the national conference of state
5  legislatures, international research on high-performing
6  education systems, including those in Finland, Singapore and
7  Japan, indicates that balanced teaching loads and
8  high-quality teacher development, such as collaboration,
9  mentorship and effective professional development and
10 embedding professional work into the school day, support both
11 teacher growth and student learning; and
12      WHEREAS, research indicates that teacher workload and
13 job demands are associated with elevated levels of stress and
14 burnout, which can affect student learning, teacher retention
15 and instructional continuity; and
16      WHEREAS, New Mexico continues to experience high vacancy
17 rates for teachers and other educational positions, with New
18 Mexico state university's southwest outreach academic
19 research evaluation and policy center reporting in its 2025
20 "New Mexico Educator Vacancy Report" a staggering one
21 thousand one hundred eleven vacancies across the state,
22 including six hundred four teacher and two hundred eighty-
23 nine educational or instructional assistant vacancies, and
24 New Mexico's school leaders continue to communicate the
25 growing challenge statewide of recruiting and retaining  HM 47
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1  qualified teachers, especially in rural communities and among
2  teachers with specialized training in serving students with
3  disabilities; and
4WHEREAS, increasingly, teachers report viewing their
5  profession as unsustainable within their allotted contract
6  hours, and survey results show teachers often work
7  substantially more hours than their contracts require,
8  attributing the increased work hours primarily to non-
9  instructional tasks; and
10      WHEREAS, a legislatively authorized study could evaluate
11 how time is allocated to teachers during the school day,
12 including instructional and professional work and how state
13 and local requirements, professional learning requirements
14 and available resources impact teacher schedules and
15 instructional time, and the study could provide analysis and
16 recommendations on structuring teacher time to balance
17 workload and support teacher effectiveness, thereby improving
18 student achievement and outcomes;
19      NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
20 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the
21 legislative education study committee be requested to conduct
22 a study examining the statutory requirements and current
23 practices related to teacher workload and the structure of
24 the instructional day and to develop recommendations to
25 support high-quality instruction and teacher effectiveness to   HM 47
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1  benefit and serve New Mexico's student population, including
2  students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged
3  students, English learners and Native American students who
4  are named in the Martinez/Yazzie consolidated lawsuit; and
5BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education
6  study committee be requested to conduct the study by working
7  with a representative group of educational leaders; educators
8  representing numerous grade levels, areas of instructional
9  expertise and communities across New Mexico; school
10 personnel; teacher unions; the legislative finance committee;
11 and the public education department; and
12      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education
13 study committee be requested to publish a report of the
14 study, including its research and recommendations, by
15 December 31, 2026; and
16      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
17 transmitted to the director of the legislative education study
18 committee, the director of the legislative finance committee
19 and the secretary of public education.  HM 47
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