I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Public school teachers, administrators and teacher’s aides will benefit from $2.5 million in federal stimulus funds meant to offset the costs of increased insurance premiums and to expand professional development opportunities, Gov. Bill Richardson announced Monday.
Roughly $2 million of the total will go toward helping 33,400 teachers and school employees across the state pay their insurance premiums, according to a news release issued by the governor’s office Monday. The stimulus dollars will reduce insurance premiums by an average of 2 percent for the 2010-11 school year.
The remainder of the money — $500,000 — will go toward professional development for roughly 2,000 educational assistants in Albuquerque Public Schools.
“New Mexico’s teachers and school employees are dedicated public servants and I am committed to helping them through the current recession,” Richardson is quoted as saying in the release. “Our teachers, educational assistants and support staff are on the front lines of school reform every day, and they’ve been subject to rising health care costs in recent years. I am pleased that these Recovery Act funds will help us offset some of those costs.”
The award comes from a discretionary fund made available to the governor as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the release said.
The $2.5 million is separate from and in addition to the $65 million New Mexico is supposed to receive in additional federal education dollars after Congress passed a $26 billion bill last week to help state out during the recession.
