House committee hears bill to add pay differentials for bilingual, TESOL‑endorsed teachers; budget questions linger

At a House of Representatives committee meeting, lawmakers heard testimony on House Bill 200, a proposal to create salary differentials for bilingual‑endorsed and TESOL‑endorsed licensed school personnel aimed at supporting students with diverse learning needs.

The bill’s backers said the stipends would help recruit and retain teachers who serve English language learners, while budget analysts and some legislators urged caution because no appropriation is currently attached and projected costs could be substantial.

Representative Guarola introduced the proposal to the committee, saying, "House Bill 200 proposes changes to, by adjusting program units to better support students with diverse learning needs. This bill, aims to enhance equity and resource allocation while ensuring long term sustainability in education funding." Annie Armitage, senior policy analyst for LASC, presented details and answered committee questions about the bill’s design.

Supporters included Stan Rounds, speaking for school superintendents, and Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation. "We support this bill," Rounds said, and added a fiscal caveat: "HAFC or house 2 and 3 does not include any appropriation for this matter. We score this with about, I think it's a $32,000,000 cost in the long haul." Bernstein said credential differentials "are a way of acknowledging and incentivizing specialized serve and need that," and noted that "over 15% of our student population in New Mexico are English language learners," and that Albuquerque Public Schools has students speaking more than 80 languages.

Opposition testimony was limited and procedural. A commenter identified only as Amy said her remarks "represent myself and not my employer" and voiced concern about adding program units for one class of students without similar provisions for career and technical education (CTE). Several legislators, including Representative Collins and Representative Baca, asked for more clarity about funding sources and timing and suggested further review during the interim budget process. Representative Baca raised data questions about trends in bilingual programs; Armitage replied that bilingual programs statewide have decreased and that, "in the prior interim, we actually did study bilingual teacher stipends. We did not look at TESOL, and we did make a recommendation for that. It did not end up, being funded."

Committee members pressed staff on eligibility and program rules. A staff response in the hearing clarified eligibility for the currently existing bilingual endorsement differential: teachers must be "in a bilingual program teaching in a bilingual product" to qualify; whether a TESOL endorsement alone would qualify under HB 200 was discussed but not resolved in the meeting.

No formal vote or final action on House Bill 200 was recorded in the transcript. Committee members signaled interest in further fiscal review and in folding funding details into the budget process before final passage.

The hearing included questions about the bill’s relationship to prior studies. Armitage told the committee the most recent LESC study did not recommend this bill, and that previous interim work had examined bilingual stipends but not produced funded results.

Next steps were not specified in the transcript; the bill remained under committee consideration at the close of the recorded discussion.