Public Education Secretary Karen Trujillo Dismissal, State of Education for New Mexico’s Public Schools, The Line

This week on New Mexico in Focus, producer Matt Grubs sits down with Rep. Alonzo Baldonado and Sen. Mimi Stewart to discuss the aftermath of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s recent dismissal of Public Education Secretary Karen Trujillo. Lawmakers from both parties have asked for a deeper explanation for her firing. Both Stewart and Baldonado sit on the Legislative Education Study Committee and give an assessment of the state of education. 

NMiF also airs a portion of KRWG-TV Director of Content Fred Martino’s interview with ousted secretary Karen Trujillo. The two talk about Trujillo’s vision for education reform and the timeline in which she hoped – and now the Lujan Grisham administration hopes – to achieve significant change in New Mexico’s public schools.

Gene Grant and the Line opinion panelists discuss recent standardized test results showing less than a third of New Mexico public school students are proficient in reading and about one-fifth show math proficiency. The group also debates the best way to handle the ongoing migrant crisis at the border and examines a retelling of the history connected to the 50th Española Valley Fiesta.

Host:    Gene Grant   

Correspondents:
Matt Grubs
Fred Martino

Studio Guests:
Rep. Alonzo Baldonado (R), New Mexico House of Representatives
Sen. Mimi Stewart (D), New Mexico Senate

Line Panelists:
Michael Bird, public health consultant
Dan Foley, former state representative
Christine Sierra, UNM political science professor emerita
Harry Van Buren, UNM Anderson School of Management