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Senate committee advances high-impact tutoring bill after amendments to target lowest-performing students and broaden provider options
Summary
The Senate Finance Committee adopted amendments to clarify that "high-impact tutoring" may occur during or outside school hours, narrowed eligibility to the state’s bottom quartile of students, and removed a licensure barrier so districts may use vendors, staff or approved nonlicensed providers; the committee recommended the bill for passage.
The Senate Finance Committee moved forward a measure to fund and expand high-impact tutoring for struggling students after amending the bill to broaden delivery times and to narrow the eligible student population. Committee members also revised language to allow schools to use nonlicensed but department-approved tutors or contractors.
The committee agreed to an amendment inserting the phrase "out of school" after the word "day" in the appropriations language so that funds could support tutoring both during school hours and in after‑school settings. The sponsor and department advocates said the change was made because "not all students will be able to be high impact tutored during the day. Some of those are after school," and the amendment was adopted without recorded opposition.
Why it matters: proponents said high-impact tutoring is an "evidence based solution" that can boost academic proficiency and attendance for chronically absent students. JD Bullington, speaking for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, summarized research findings, saying high-impact tutoring "is an evidence based solution that is proven to maximize student learning, boost academic proficiency, and improve attendance." Supporters told the committee that targeted tutoring can be an early intervention to reduce later remediation costs.
Key amendments and definitions: committee discussion and the substitute bill replaced the phrase "accelerated tutoring" with "high impact tutoring," and narrowed the eligible population from students at "performance level 1" to the bottom quartile on state assessments. According to the sponsor’s office, that narrowing substantially reduced the estimated statewide cost from the original $35 million annual figure; committee testimony placed the revised estimate between $5 million and $7 million annually depending on vendor arrangements.
Providers and program management: Amanda Adegone, executive director of New Mexico Kids Can, told the committee the bill "allows for flexibility. If a district would like to use their own staff to provide high impact tutoring, they may do so. And if they don't have that capacity and they'd like to contract with a high quality vendor, they may do so." Committee members sought to ensure volunteer and nonprofit programs would not be excluded. Senator Trujillo raised concerns about volunteer groups such as Santa Fe's Math Amigos, noting many tutors are retired professionals who are not licensed and urged language to preserve their eligibility. Committee members proposed and the sponsor agreed to work on language to explicitly allow nonprofit or volunteer providers to be approved by the Public Education Department (PED).
Program structure and funding questions: committee members asked whether the program would be a time-limited pilot. Testimony described a minimum 10-week tutoring round with the possibility of additional rounds depending on district decisions and PED implementation. The sponsor said the amendment's narrowing of eligibility was intended to make the program affordable to start under current budget projections and to allow results to determine sustainability.
Votes and next steps: A motion to move the bill forward was made and seconded; the committee announced a due-pass recommendation and the bill will proceed to the next legislative stage. Supporters said they will refine statutory language to clarify the definition of a "high-quality tutor" to include nonprofit and volunteer providers approved by PED.
