New Mexico as 2018 Begins
 

The Trump presidency, combined with the elusive and manipulative way television produces "news" about the administration or anything else about our government or world affairs, have revealed such rot in the national foundations of our once-powerful democratic institutions, that the ailments of New Mexico are dwarfed by comparison.  Nevertheless, states are essential units of self-governance, so it behooves us to think about how well we are governing ourselves, if for no other reason than to guide ourselves as much as possible away from the downward national spiral. 

One problem in doing this is assessing just how deeply the national scene has impoverished our possibilities of self-governance in the state.  The national disgrace of campaign financing, for example, has infected the way we select decision-makers in the state.  So too, national laws have encouraged the concentration of local news production into the hands of owners who no longer think of news production in civic terms; that is, an honest effort to keep citizens informed about government's actions, but as pieces of entertainment contributing little to deepening our understanding of the world we are supposed to shape with our votes.  Fortunately, a bright spot in New Mexico is the presence, up to now, of the family-owned Albuquerque Journal, one of the last pillars of serious investigative reporting in an otherwise crumbling statewide infrastructure for self-governance.  Kudos, too, for the Santa Fe New Mexican, and some of the bloggers on the right hand of this page.

But enough of this:  where do we stand as a state today?

Public Education:  Grade:  F.  By far the single most important indicator of a state's future condition is its education system.  In 2017 Education Week ranked NM 48th among the states in public education;  Wallet Hub ranked NM 50th.  After 15 years under two governor's who swore to improve NM's education system, our rankings have declined slightly.  Why can't NM attract bright shiny high-tech industries to the state like they do in North Carolina?  Go no further:  you don't willingly move your household and unborn babies to places where schools are bad.  And the kind of newcomers we would like to attract read real data, not the PR statements of chambers of commerce.  North Carolina's education system ranks 13th, while spending per pupil ranks 44th, eleven places lower than New Mexico. Other states have turned education around without new money.  New Mexico has not.  In the case of Albuquerque, add to poor schools a peek at the police department, as described by national magazines here, here, here, and here.  You still wanna move your kids to Albuquerque?  If there is a single failure of our state government over the past five decades, it lies in our wonderfully bipartisan failure to improve public education.  And, as the case of North Carolina and other examples show, this is not a problem of more money (MM); it is a matter of much money misspent (MMM).  What do our gubernatorial hopefuls propose, specifically, to raise us from an F to a D within, say, six years?  Ask them!  And if they promise to raise it to an A turn and walk away.  You are in the presence of a liar or a fool, or both--not what we need.

Higher Education:  Grade:  D.  Higher education is only marginally better.  For the first time in NM history the older generations are better educated than the younger generations, so something is wrong.  The root of the problem is that our governors and legislatures have failed to set statewide goals for NM's higher education needs and to hold each institution accountable for doing its part to achieve these goals.  New Mexico still does not have a statewide system of higher education, and the result is an expensive, uncoordinated, and under-performing mish-mash of schools.  NM ranks 6th in the nation in dollars spent per FTE, but ranks 47th in 6-year graduation rates for a bachelor's degree.  We grossly overproduce teachers, criminal justice majors, and social workers, while grossly under-producing STEM degrees.  UNM is a mediocre flagship university.  Better ones surround us in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Texas.  And among 12 research institutions in the surrounding states (only West Texas schools included) all except Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, arguably, are better than NMSU, whose National Academy of Sciences ranking of US Schools of Engineering has plummeted from the top 50 a few years ago down to about 150 today.  To be fair, UNM's School of Engineering has improved greatly (ranked around 50) and has surpassed NMSU's.

As Secretary of Higher Education in the first Martinez administration I tried moving the needle on accountability through creation of a new funding formula that rewarded STEM, graduation rate improvement, and greater success in our dismal record of graduating Hispanics and Native Americans (70% of our future population)--all things the state desperately needs from higher education--but with very little success, since the legislature refuses even today to take the formula seriously, and the major higher education concern in the governor's office during my tenure seemed to be to gossip about regents and college presidents and not getting blamed for shortfalls in the Lottery Scholarship.  What specifically will our next governor do to make higher education a priority and accountable to the needs of real New Mexicans?  Ask them!  And hold them to account.

Health Care:  Grade:  C+.  Close behind education in the people's wish-list for good governance is health care.  Here the story, while not perfect, is much brighter than education.  Wallet Hub ranks NM 29th among the states in health care.  US News and World Reports ranks NM 26th.  Life Expectancy at birth in NM, a strong overall indicator of how well the health care system is doing, is 31st among the states, only about four months lower than the national average.  While perhaps not good enough to attract people to New Mexico, health care almost certainly does not deter people from moving here, as is the case with education.  The backbone in the state's health care system, the Health Sciences Center, at UNM, while not perfect (morale among doctors at the Hospital is low), is a far better institution than UNM is as a flagship university.  Regrettably, some of the weaker, most partisan, regents at UNM in recent years have not been able to resist meddling with the HSC, and only the intervention of the stronger regents at UNM has prevented serious damage.  Does our next governor have any ideas about how to raise health care into the mid-twenties instead of the low twenties?  Ask!  And hold them to account.

This is an election year.  Education and health care are as fundamental as issues get at the statewide level.  Do not allow the current crop of candidates for governor to wander too far astray from these topics.  What they think or feel about Donald Trump, or the business climate, drivers licenses for undocumented, or the crime rate, or immigration laws, or the Wall are not nearly as important as what they might actually do to improve bread and butter issues they have control over, if they put their nose to the grindstone and work for us, for a change.   Make them tell you specifically what they intend to do, or don't vote for them.  As I said a few days ago, if you aren't happy, "throw the bastards out."  It might be high time.