September 2011
Aiming High
Tom Burris
Superintendent, Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools
Taking liberty with the famous tagline from the late Paul Harvey, I’d like to offer the rest of the story.
Education is about providing the best for all of our kids. As parents, we can give our children money, real estate, cars and even jobs, but those are all secondary to a great education.
As we look at the economic state of affairs of the country and world, unemployment and global unrest, it is a great concern to anyone who has children. How will we be able to protect and nurture those who are now in school and those students who will come to us in the next few years? We must focus on providing an education at least equal to the best districts in New Mexico. We do this by aligning the curriculum, analyzing data derived from testing and providing viable professional development for all staff.
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) might be a fading memory for some observers, but testing is alive and well. Despite falling short of new AYP parameters in last year’s testing, each district school exhibited growth.
A growth model proposed by New Mexico Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera grades district’s schools at or near the top using data assessed for the last three years. T-or-C Middle School and SEC score an "A" in growth and Arrey scores a "B". The scores for HSHS and TCES are not available but I anticipate and "A" for both.
Truth or Consequences schools have been recognized by the Secretary and her staff in different engagements in the state. Officially, T-or-C District schools are considered "schools on the rise."
Secretary Skandera visited our district in August and presented the keynote address to the staff. She also visited classes in Arrey and met each staff member in the school.
Although the state is in a severe financial crisis, we have been able to maintain staff and increase all staff salaries—with a 2.5 percent across-the-board boost AND a step on the salary schedule. This, coupled with the teachers who advanced in levels, brought the average increase to 5.32 percent. This was the highest increase percentage in the state that I am aware of, as most districts froze salaries while others have cut staff in the last two or three years.
Despite significant financial hardships, the Truth or Consequences School district has a sound budget and great plan for the best education for our students.
Also thanks to Secretary Skandera, our Pre K program received much-needed support. We applied for the Pre K grant and were initially not among the 12 of 29 successfully funded districts. Upon notification of the loss of funding, I immediately contacted the Secretary about an appeal process.
Due in part to my perseverance, Skandera and her staff found a way to fund our program. I was later informed we were third out of the money and two other districts were funded so that we could be funded. In the end, it was good we could help other districts and kids. (Full disclosure: my youngest daughter attends Pre K.)
The bottom line? Test scores are up, teachers received a significant salary increase, we are not eliminating staff and are poised to meet the challenges of AYP and student achievement. So let’s get together and all pull for the kids and their future.
As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know.
(e-mail Supt. Tom Burris at tburris@torcschools.net or call 575-894-8165)
