New Mexico

New Mexico law provides that no more than 15 schools may open each year with a five-year cap of 75, with slots not filled within a five-year period rolled over to the next five years. New Mexico law also requires that an application for a charter school in a district with 1,300 or fewer students may not enroll more than 10% of the students in the district in which the charter school will be located.

New Mexico law allows new start-ups but not public school conversions.

New Mexico law allows local school districts and the state public education commission to approve charter applications.

New Mexico law requires authorizers to submit an annual report to the state public education department that includes a performance report for each charter school it oversees.
While the law does not require the legislature and governor to regularly review the performance of the state public education commission as an authorizer, they can do so at any time. In addition, the legislature and governor can remove the ability of the state public education commission to continue authorizing (the entities that gave it that authority).
New Mexico law requires the state public education department to issue annual reports to the governor, the legislative finance committee, and the legislative education study committee on the state’s charter schools. The law requires the annual report to include a comparison of the performance of charter school students with the performance of academically, ethnically, and economically comparable groups of students in noncharter public schools. It also requires the annual report to include an assessment of the successes, challenges, and areas for improvement in meeting the purposes of the Charter Schools Act, including an assessment of the sufficiency of funding for charter schools, the efficacy of the state formula for chartering authority funding, and any suggested changes to state law or policy necessary to strengthen the state's charter schools.
The law does not require at least a registration process for local school boards to affirm their interest in chartering to the state, does not require a regular review process by the state of local school board authorizers, and does not give the state the authority to sanction local school board authorizers.

New Mexico law allows authorizers to withhold and use two percent of the school-generated program cost for its administrative support of a charter school. The law requires authorizers to annually provide a detailed description of how they are expending the dollars that they are withholding from charter schools.
New Mexico law allows a charter school to contract with a school district, a university or college, the state, another political subdivision of the state, the federal government or one of its agencies, a tribal government, or any other third party for the use of a facility, its operation and maintenance, and the provision of any service or activity that the charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the educational program described in its charter.

New Mexico law contains application elements for all schools.
New Mexico law requires an authorizer to hold at least one public subcommittee hearing in the school district in which the charter school is proposed to be located to obtain information and community input to assist it in its decision whether to grant a charter school application. The law allows the authorizer to designate a subcommittee of no fewer than three members to hold the public hearing, and, if so, the law requires the hearing to be transcribed for later review by other members of the authorizer. The law provides that community input may include written or oral comments in favor of or in opposition to the application from the applicant, the district, the local community, and local school board in whose geographical boundaries the charter school is proposed to be located. The law does not require an in-person interview.

New Mexico law requires all charter approval or denial decisions to be made in a public meeting and requires authorizers to state reasons for denials in writing at the time of the hearing.

According to New Mexico law, authorizers must enter into a contract with the governing body of the applicant charter school within 30 days of approval. The law requires the charter contract to be legally binding and serve as the final authorization for the charter school. The law requires the charter contract to specify the authorizer’s duties to the charter school, including the process and criteria used to annually monitor and evaluate the charter school. The law requires the contract to include any dispute resolution processes agreed to by both parties.
New Mexico law requires the final approved charter contract to define the academic and operational performance expectations by which the school will be judged, based on a performance framework that includes performance indicators and performance targets for, at a minimum, student academic proficiency and growth, achievement gaps, attendance, recurrent enrollment, postsecondary readiness (high schools), financial performance, and board stewardship (including compliance).

According to New Mexico law, a charter school may be approved for an initial term of six years, provided that the first year shall be used exclusively for planning and not for completing the application.

The law requires authorizers to collect, analyze, and report all data in accordance with the performance frameworks set forth in their approved charter contracts with schools and to include this information in annual performance reports for each charter school they oversee submitted to the state public education department.
The law requires charter schools to adhere to the same reporting requirements as traditional public schools, including quarterly financial reports, an annual outside audit, and 40-, 60-, and 120-day student counts. The law also requires charter schools receiving local mill levy tax dollars to report their proposed and actual capital expenditures.

The law requires authorizers to monitor the fiscal, overall governance, student performance, and legal compliance of the charter schools they oversee, including reviewing the data provided by the charter school to support ongoing evaluation according to the charter contract.

The law allows authorizers to conduct or require oversight activities that allow the authorizer to fulfill its responsibilities under the Charter Schools Act, including conducting appropriate inquires and investigations provided that the authorizer complies with the provisions of the Charter Schools Act and the terms of the charter contract and does not unduly inhibit the autonomy granted to the charter schools that it governs.

As part of its performance review of a charter school, the law requires authorizers to visit a charter school under its authority at least once annually to provide technical assistance to the charter school and to determine the status of the charter school and the progress of the charter school toward the performance framework goals in its charter contract.
If, based on the performance review conducted by the authorizer, a charter school's fiscal, overall governance, student performance, or legal compliance appears unsatisfactory, the law requires the authorizer to promptly notify the governing body of the charter school of the unsatisfactory review and provide reasonable opportunity for the governing body to remedy the problem. However, if the unsatisfactory review warrants revocation, the law provides that the revocation procedures set forth in state law shall apply.

The law allows an authorizer to take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions, as long as such sanctions do not constitute revocation, in response to the unsatisfactory review. The law provides that such actions or sanctions by the authorizer may include requiring a governing body to develop and execute a corrective action plan with the authorizer that sets forth time frames for compliance.

New Mexico law requires charter schools seeking renewal to apply for it. It requires the renewal application to include a report on the progress towards meeting the state public education department’s minimum education standards and other performance goals stated in each school’s charter contract academic performance framework.
New Mexico law allows an authorizer to suspend, revoke, or not renew a charter if it determines that the charter school did any of the following: committed a material violation or breach of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter contract; failed to meet or make substantial progress toward achievement of the department's standards of excellence or student performance standards identified in the charter contract; failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management; or violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted.

The law requires authorizers to develop processes for suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of a charter that provides the charter school with timely notification of the prospect of suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of the charter and the reasons for such action, allows the charter school a reasonable amount of time to prepare and submit a response to the authorizer’s action, and requires the final determination made by authorizer to be submitted to the state public education department. The law requires the authorizer to rule in a public hearing on the renewal application no later than 180 days prior to the charter contract’s expiration. The law allows charter schools to appeal authorizer decisions to revoke or not renew a charter to the state secretary of education.

New Mexico law allows a charter to be renewed for successive periods of five years each and allows approvals of less than five years if agreed to between the charter school and the authorizer.

New Mexico law requires all charter renewal, nonrenewal, and revocation decisions to be made in a public meeting and requires authorizers to state their reasons for revocation or non-renewal in writing.

Prior to any charter school closure, the law requires an authorizer to develop closure protocols that include timely notification to parents, orderly transition of students and records, and disposition of property and assets. The protocol must also specify tasks, timelines, and the duties of responsible parties.

New Mexico law includes a small number of the model law’s provisions for educational service providers. State law prohibits a charter school governing body from contracting with a for-profit entity for the management of the charter school.

If a charter school contracts with a third-party provider, the law requires the charter contract to include the criteria and procedures for the authorizer to review the provider's contract and the charter school's financial independence from the provider. However, it doesn’t require contracts between schools and providers, doesn’t require authorizers to approve these contracts, and doesn’t require that governing boards operate completely independent of a provider.

The law provides that a person shall not serve as a member of a governing body of a charter school if the person or an immediate family member of the person is an owner, agent of, contractor with or otherwise has a financial interest in a for-profit or nonprofit entity with which the charter school contracts directly for professional services, goods or facilities. It doesn’t require existing and potential conflicts of interest between the two entities to be disclosed and explained in the charter application, though.

New Mexico law provides requirements for fiscally and legally autonomous schools with independent charter school boards.

New Mexico law provides that charter schools must provide open enrollment to any student in the state.

According to the law, a charter school shall be subject to all federal and state laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, physical or mental handicap, serious medical condition, race, creed, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, spousal affiliation, national origin, religion, ancestry or need for special education services.

New Mexico law provides that charter schools must give enrollment preference to students who have been admitted to the charter school through an appropriate admission process and remain in attendance through subsequent grades and siblings of students already admitted to or attending the same charter school. The law also requires each charter school to provide an enrollment preference to children of that school’s employees.

New Mexico law provides that charters may either enroll students on a first-come, first-served basis or through a lottery selection process if the total number of applicants exceeds the number of spaces available at the school.

New Mexico law provides the following parameters for exemptions:
* It allows a local school board to waive only locally imposed school district requirements for locally chartered charter schools.
* It provides that a state-chartered charter school is exempt from school district requirements.
* It requires the state department of education to waive requirements or rules and provisions of the Public School Code pertaining to individual class load, teaching load, length of the school day, staffing patterns, subject areas, purchase of instructional material, evaluation standards for school personnel, school principal duties, and driver education.
* It allows the state department of education to waive requirements or rules and provisions of the Public School Code pertaining to graduation requirements as long as the requirements are higher than the state’s.
* It provides that any waivers granted are for the term of the charter granted but may be suspended or revoked earlier by the department.

In practice, stringent regulations force applicants to request and explain the reasoning for such waivers.

New Mexico law requires charter school teachers to have the same certification requirements as traditional public school teachers. It requires charter schools to adhere to the same three-tiered salary schedule as traditional public schools and, for teachers who have been employed at the school for three consecutive years, adhere to the New Mexico School Personnel Act.

New Mexico law requires collective bargaining for non-charter public school teachers. Collective bargaining must address four topics: wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment, and grievance procedures. Four additional topics — management rights, transfers and reassignments, layoffs, and dismissal — may be bargained. No topics are expressly prohibited from collective bargaining. New Mexico law does not require any charter schools to be part of existing collective bargaining agreements.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, New Mexico allowed mandatory agency fees. The Supreme Court decision renders that state law unconstitutional. There has not been any reactive legislation enacted.
Public employers in New Mexico may directly certify a labor organization as an exclusive representative if the labor organization demonstrates support from a majority of employees in the unit. This may be demonstrated by a card check or other measure. However, the employer may request an election. If an election is called for, the labor organization must submit a petition demonstrating at least 30 percent support from employees to the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). Any labor organization demonstrating at least 30 percent support must be included on the ballot, along with an option for no representation. An election shall only be valid with at least 40 percent turnout from employees. The election is decided by majority vote, with runoff provisions if no majority is achieved. An election may not be held within a year of, or during, an active collective bargaining agreement. If there is a request for decertification, this may only occur between 30 and 90 days before the collective bargaining agreement expires, or after three years.New Mexico law does not require any charter schools to be part of existing collective bargaining agreements.

New Mexico law is silent regarding these arrangements. In practice, the state allows independent public charter school boards to oversee multiple schools linked under a single contract, but does not require independent fiscal and academic accountability for each school.

New Mexico law allows charter school students to participate in district activities sanctioned by the New Mexico Activities Association.

New Mexico law provides that: charter schools must comply with all applicable state and federal laws and rules related to providing special education services; charter school students with disabilities and their parents retain all rights under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and its implementing state and federal rules; each charter school is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and offering a free appropriate public education to all eligible children who are accepted for enrollment in that charter school; and a state-chartered charter school, as a local educational agency, shall assume responsibility for determining students' needs for special education and related services.
The law provides that portion of money from state or federal programs generated by students enrolled in a locally chartered charter school must be allocated to that charter school serving students eligible for that aid.

The law provides that when a state-chartered charter school is designated as a board of finance pursuant to state law, it must receive state and federal funds for which it is eligible.

The law provides that state-chartered charter schools may apply for all federal funds for which they are eligible and that locally-chartered schools must be included in their district’s consolidated federal application.

New Mexico law provides the amount of funding allocated to a charter school must be not less than ninety-eight percent of the school-generated program cost. It allows an authorizer to withhold and use two percent of the school-generated program cost for its administrative support of a charter school.
The law provides that portion of money from state or federal programs generated by students enrolled in a locally chartered charter school must be allocated to that charter school serving students eligible for that aid.

The law provides that when a state-chartered charter school is designated as a board of finance pursuant to state law, it must receive state and federal funds for which it is eligible.

The law provides that state-chartered charter schools may apply for all federal funds for which they are eligible and that locally-chartered schools must be included in their district’s consolidated federal application.

The law requires locally-chartered charter schools to negotiate with a school district to provide transportation to students eligible for transportation under state law. It allows the school district, in conjunction with the charter school, to establish a limit for student transportation to and from the charter school site not to extend beyond the school district boundary.

In a national study of charter school funding (University of Arkansas, Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, 2014), New Mexico charter schools were receiving on average $10,034 per pupil in public funds, while traditional public schools would have received $10,505 for those students. As a result, the state's charter schools were receiving $471 per pupil - or 4.4% - less than what the traditional public schools would have received for those students. This figure includes all sources of funding, and analysis reveals continued inequities for operational, categorical, and capital funding (see component #19 for information on capital issues).

New Mexico law provides lease payments for charter schools at $700 per student for 2012-13. The law pegs this amount to an inflation index to determine future year allotments.
The law allows charter schools to access public capital outlay grants through the Public School Capital Outlay Council in somewhat similar ways to other public schools in the state.

The law requires school districts to share local facilities funds with public charter schools in a proportionate share to a charter’s enrollment. It allows these funds to be used as payments for approved lease-to-purchase agreements.

The law requires tax levy resolutions submitted by a district to the voters for approval to contain capital improvement funding for public charter schools that have an approved facility plan and that have been renewed one time. In practice, making this provision a reality has been a battle, especially for state-chartered schools.

The law requires the school district in which a charter school is geographically located to provide a charter school with available facilities for the school's operations unless the facilities are currently used for other educational purposes. It allows an agreement for the use of school district facilities by a charter school to provide for reasonable lease payments. Full implementation of the law has been problematic.

The law requires public charter schools to move to public buildings by 2015 or meet other conditions provided by law. For charter schools that are purchasing existing buildings or constructing new buildings, the law provides that such facilities must meet the average facility condition index of all public school buildings in the state.

The law allows the New Mexico Finance Authority to use public bond funds to construct charter facilities in a pilot program for up to seven charter schools. It allows funds loaned by the Finance Authority to be used for the acquisition of buildings, land, and facilities.

The law allows charter schools to access tax-exempt debt from counties.

New Mexico law requires charter schools to participate in the relevant employee retirement systems.

New Mexico law does not contain any of the model law’s provisions regarding full-time virtual charter schools.