新墨西哥居民以压倒性多数投票支持增加早期儿童教育资金的投票措施。
截至周四早上，70%的选票投出我们支持宪法修正案1，该修正案从州土地捐赠永久基金(也称为永久学校基金)中提供更多资金，“用于加强对有失败风险的学生的指导，延长学年，教师薪酬和早期儿童教育。”
倡导团体新墨西哥州儿童之声估计这将达到约1.5亿美元，或该基金的1.25%，其中部分资金来自该州的土地，石油，天然气和矿产特许权使用费。
Miranda Padilla holds her 11-month-old son Grayson Sanchez while marking her ballot at a polling center, Nov. 8, 2022, Albuquerque, N.M.
安德烈斯·雷顿/美联社
新墨西哥州在优先发展幼儿教育方面一直处于领先地位。五月，国家基本上免除儿童保育项目的费用这使得大多数收入达到联邦贫困线400%的家庭，或者一个四口之家收入达到111，000美元的家庭都可以享受免费医疗。位于华盛顿特区的全国幼儿教育协会的首席执行官米歇尔·康对这一消息表示欢迎，该协会代表了全国6万名幼儿教育工作者。
康在接受《早安美国》采访时表示:“新墨西哥最有趣的事情之一是，现在所有的人都在一起接受早期儿童教育。”“从倡导者和教育工作者，到州一级的领导，选民的理解，跨越党派界限的教育工作者和救济资金都聚集在一起——对我来说，这是已经发生的非常好的事情的一个亮点。”
“这对工薪家庭来说是至关重要的支持，它被视为从最早的几年开始，然后转化为儿童成长和发展以及继续接受教育的事情，”康继续说。
在美国，儿童保育和早期儿童教育的问题已经达到了关键的程度，关键问题如缺乏足够的员工，低报酬和儿童保育沙漠阻碍了无数家庭的发展。
康说:“在全国范围内，联邦救济资金对于挽救儿童保育免于疫情灾难的全面崩溃至关重要。”。“我们看到的是项目的关闭、人员配备的挑战、现在家庭获得资金的限制——(在这些地方)资金尚未得到国会的支持——这给所有环境、规模、州和社区的项目带来了巨大的稳定性挑战。”
“新墨西哥州的这项修正案将有助于该州解决缺乏稳定性和可持续性的问题，这对教育工作者和家庭来说是非常重要的，”康补充说。
随着新墨西哥州着手解决其早期儿童教育的需求，康说，需要做更多的工作来帮助其他州的儿童取得成功。
康说:“我们看到各州都在想方设法支持这项工作，但从根本上说，我们不能把这项工作留给各州。”"联邦资金是能够解决这一挑战的支柱."
New Mexico votes to spend over $150 million on early childhood education
New Mexico residents have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a ballot measure that increases funding for early childhood education.
As of Thursday morning,70% of ballots castwere in favor of Constitutional Amendment 1, which provides more money from the state's Land Grant Permanent Fund (also called the Permanent School Fund) "for enhanced instruction for students at risk of failure, extending the school year, teacher compensation and early childhood education."
The advocacy groupNew Mexico Voices for Childrenestimates this will amount to about $150 million, or another 1.25% of the fund, which is funded in part by the state's land, oil, gas and mineral royalties.
New Mexico has been a leader in prioritizing early childhood education. In May, the state essentiallywaived the cost of child care programs, making it free for most families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or $111,000 for a family of four.Michelle Kang, the chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association for the Education of Young Children, which represents 60,000 early childhood educators across the country, welcomed the news.
"One of the things that's so interesting here in New Mexico is this moment of where it's all coming together for early childhood education," Kang told "Good Morning America." "From advocates and educators, the leadership at the state level, voter understanding, the educators that cross partisan lines and the relief funding is all coming together -- and to me, a highlight of something very good that has happened."
"It's crucial support to working families and it is being seen as something that starts at the earliest years and then translates into what happens as children grow and develop and continue to access education," Kang continued.
Across the U.S., the issue of child care and early childhood education has reached critical proportions, with key problems such as a lack of adequate staffing, low compensation, and child care deserts holding countless families back.
"In the national context, the federal relief dollars have been critical for saving child care from total collapse in the wake of the pandemic," Kang said. "What we're seeing with closures of programs, the staffing challenges, the limitations now in terms of access for families -- [where] the funds have not yet been sustained by Congress -- it's created massive stability challenges for programs in all settings, sizes, states and communities."
"This amendment in New Mexico is going to help the state address that lack of stability and sustainability, which is hugely consequential for educators and families," Kang added.
As New Mexico moves forward to address its early childhood education needs, Kang said that more needs to be done to set up children in other states for success.
"We see that states have looked at ways to be creative around being able to support this, but fundamentally, we can't leave it to states," Kang said. "Federal funding is the backbone to being able to solve this challenge."
