FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: John Dyrcz
August 29, 2024 505-554-8679


Albuquerque – American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Whitney Holland and National Education Association-New Mexico President Mary Parr Sanchez released the following statement:

“With the abrupt departure of former New Mexico Public Education Secretary Dr. Arsenio Romero, New Mexico educators are reflecting on the persistent churn of Department leadership and how this instability hampers student and educator ability to teach and thrive in New Mexico’s public schools.

“While we did not always agree with the approaches of the former Secretary, we do believe Dr. Romero shared our goal to improve and modernize New Mexico’s public education system. We appreciate his efforts to make informed, student- and educator-focused decisions under immense pressure for quick-fix, silver bullet solutions to complex, systemic, and generational educational issues.

“With another national search about to begin for this Administration’s fifth Secretary of Public Education, we hope finalists for this position will share our values. New Mexico students and educators deserve a secretary who is dedicated to uplifting our state’s rich cultural and linguistic traditions, a respect for local decision-making processes, returning respect to our profession, advocating for living wages and benefits for all educators in our public education system, and a focus on providing the funding and tools to help our students succeed in all academic areas from early education to college or career.

“Educators know the challenges our students face when educational environments constantly shift. Similarly, professional educators and school leaders cannot be fully effective when state mandates and leadership are constantly shifting. We believe the New Mexico Legislature should continue to research and refine efforts to return public education governance to an elected, statewide Board of Education with a Superintendent of Education empowered to set consistent policy and manage our system of public education.”