New Mexico must fundamentally change the way it budgets for K-12 education. The State Equalization Guarantee (SEG) was a ground-breaking concept for funding public education when it was introduced in 1974, however, many children attending our schools face more hardships than they did when the formula was created. Keeping equity central, financial shifts must be made to:

1. Pay educators and support staff more so that we can attract & retain more highly-qualified educators, reduce class size and ensure that students individual needs are being met.

2. Provide students & families more wrap-around services to address student health and wellness needs.

3. Offer students more robust programming in subjects we know keep students engaged, like art, music, theater, culturally relevant studies and the trades.

4. Develop streamlined reporting to reduce redundancy in paperwork. This will free up time for teachers to teach, for support staff to address student needs, and for administrators to spend more time getting to know their students and communities.

5. In higher education, we must ensure more robust pipeline programs from high school programs into the profession of education.