The Line: Early Childhood Education Endowment

September 13, 2019 – The push to tap New Mexico’s nearly $19 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to help pay for early childhood education programs has failed again and again at the state capitol. This year, Department of Finance and Administration Sec. Olivia Padilla-Jackson floated the idea to lawmakers at a recent meeting of creating a separate endowment to pay for early childhood learning. If the state could earmark $1 billion over the next three years, the governor’s administration estimates it could spend $50 million a year on such programs. The Line opinion panel debates the pros and cons of such a plan, and its surprising support from staunch fiscal conservative state Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming.

Line Panelists:
Serge Martinez, UNM School of Law
Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group
Giovanna Rossi, Collective Action Strategies
Kristelle Siarza, Siarza Social Digital

For Further Reading:
Op-ed: Early childhood education puts us on the right path – Las Cruces Sun-News

State revenues expected to soar once again – Albuquerque Journal