Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is asking the state legislature for a total of $60 million to create and fund a statewide literacy institute.
$30 million would be one-time only dollars to be used to build the institute, the other $30 million would be reoccuring to operate its programs.
Lujan Grisham says too many New Mexico students have long struggled to be able to read at or above grade-level and that needs to end.
She says the programs would focus on all stages of learning from Pre-K to adulthood including asking for $11.5 million for early literacy and coaching in Pre-K programs and $9.7 million for the higher education department to fund 26 programs supporting adult literacy and ESL instruction.
Lujan Grisham says parents can’t help their children to read if they are struggling themselves.
“We’ve got parents who may not be at reading level as adults, they have literacy challenges in their own right,” she said. “That is a very hard thing to communicate to your teacher, your school, your place of work. Kiddos come home and need support and they can’t do it and that further exacerbates the challenges that states like New Mexico have in education.”
The Governor’s proposals also include $750-thousand for adult and family literacy programs to support 18 state-funded programs serving 13-hundred adults and families statewide.
It appears Lujan Grisham’s Structured Literacy proposal is getting support from both Democrats and Republicans.
Members from both sides on the Senate Finance Committee stopped by the Governor’s news conference on Thursday to show support for the programs.