Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
As this year’s legislative session gets underway, there’s one wedge issue already getting lots of attention. Rest assured that any and all gun-control proposals, no matter how reasonable, will get plenty of attention by the usual band of Second Amendment reactionaries and their demagoguing leaders.
Remember last September when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an executive order limiting the carrying of firearms in Bernalillo County? It was specific to metro Albuquerque, but some of the most aggressive demonstrations came in the more rural areas of our state.
Gun control feeds well into the rural-urban divide gripping our nation these days. We’ll see it in this legislative session, when rural lawmakers advocate for greater freedom and urban lawmakers push for more control.
But let’s remember that a lot of the postering we’ll see in this session will be more about perception than reality. Greater control over assault weapons isn’t going to do a damn thing to inhibit hunting, but the pro-gun lobby will oppose it as a “slippery slope” anyway and a bunch of hunters will agree — without any supporting evidence.
Another wedge issue that Lujan Grisham is pushing is more about reality than perception. The governor in her State of the State address mentioned it as a “180 days” requirement, meaning all public school districts in the state will have to schedule at least 180 days of classroom instruction per school year — thereby nixing the four-day week that many of the state’s rural districts now operate under.
The practicality of four days of classroom instruction instead of five is well known in the rural districts. It cuts costs, from the utility bills that keep the schools warm in the winter and cool in the summer to the transportation expenses that come with lengthy rural bus routes.
It also contributes to teacher morale, which is critical in this time in which fewer people are entering the profession. Many rural districts all over the state have changed over to four-day weeks as more than a convenience, but as a way to survive and even thrive within the confines of declining enrollments.
Of course, the counterpoint is that our schools are failing our kids, as our consistent ranking at the bottom of national education lists shows. Five days of classroom instruction is necessary, proponents argue, to improve the academic performance of our state’s public schools.
Pretty soon, the state Public Education Department will act unilaterally on the issue with a simple rules change; no need for legislative action. Then, for the 2024-25 school year, all public school districts in the state will have to comply, possibly forcing several rural districts to return to five-day classroom schedules per week.
When it comes to our rural-urban divide, we need to look harder for common ground and ensure everyone’s interests are at least considered. It doesn’t feel that way with the four- or five-day issue, and that’s on our governor.
A single public hearing in December wasn’t enough to make rural districts feel heard. Instead, it feels more like a done deal being forced on rural educators. And, unfortunately, that’s exactly how wedge issues take root.
Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at: