Lawmakers press for better teacher-pipeline data after PED releases EARS overview

Deputy Secretary Amanda DeBell of the New Mexico Public Education Department told the Legislative Education Study Committee on day two at the Stan Fulton Center that the department’s legislatively required educator-accountability report (EARS) for 2023–24 provides fresh insight into how teacher‑preparation programs are performing — but that significant data gaps remain.

“The report is year‑lagged,” DeBell said, describing EARS as a snapshot of 2023–24 completers across 13 approved educator preparation programs. She told the committee the department currently relies on spreadsheets to collect program data and is seeking funding to build a modern licensure and reporting system so the state can follow candidates from preparation into the classroom.

Legislators pressed DeBell for concrete workforce counts. Representative Baca cited a figure DeBell gave for statewide need — roughly 4,000 teachers per year to cover normal retirements and attrition — and contrasted it with the roughly 2,200 annual completers the department currently licenses. “How many are we currently graduating?” he asked. DeBell replied the EARS data show about 2,200 new licensed teachers but acknowledged the state lacks a robust way to track whether those completers stay in New Mexico classrooms.

Several members questioned what the EARS charts actually count. Senator Figueroa and others noted that many completers reported on program slides were already working as teachers of record while completing their program, so the count of newly placed teachers in classrooms may be lower than the raw completer total. DeBell confirmed the charts include enrollees at various stages of their programs and said the department would follow up with program‑level detail to address that ambiguity.

Members also sought demographic and vacancy detail. Representative Torres Velasquez asked that future reporting include strong demographic breakdowns — age, ethnicity, first‑generation status and early retention — to target supports and recruitment. DeBell said the forthcoming EARS report will include ethnicity and some age data, but she acknowledged the department does not yet tag each license with a program origin consistently across institutions.

The committee raised other workforce concerns: counselor vacancies have risen sharply, members said, and secondary math and science remain hard to staff. DeBell pointed to recruitment partnerships and scholarships as part of PED’s response but called counselor vacancies “alarming” and said further investigation is needed.

On international hires, DeBell said the state recorded 787 internationally sponsored teachers in 2023–24 and that national visa‑fee changes could pose risks; she said PED has not yet seen direct local impacts but recommended further monitoring.

Why it matters: Lawmakers said they need cleaner, more timely data to decide where to invest in teacher preparation, retention programs and licensure-system upgrades. Several members urged that the legislature consider recurring funding to support PED’s data modernization so the state can link educator pathways to later workforce and student outcomes.

What’s next: DeBell said the department will deliver the full EARS report to LESC within days and is requesting budget authority for technology improvements and a new licensure system. Members asked staff to return with district‑level snapshots and clearer definitions of program type versus licensure type so the committee can measure whether investments are increasing both the quantity and the retention of teachers.