Public Education Department outlines three‑year Martinez/Yazzie action plan; lawmakers press for teeth on accountability and tribal input

The Public Education Department on Thursday presented an updated three‑year action plan ordered by the courts to address longstanding disparities identified in the Martinez/Yazzie litigation, and lawmakers from both committees pressed for clearer accountability, stronger tribal consultation and budget clarity before the December court exchanges.

The action plan: PED officials said the updated plan — submitted to the court on Nov. 3 — sets out four critical needs (equitable access to high-quality instruction; well-prepared culturally and linguistically responsive educators; academic, social and behavioral services; and effective funding, support and accountability). The plan includes three‑year action sequences, outcome measures, and implementation responsibilities. "If you have seen the draft plan, but you have not seen the updated plan, you really haven't seen the plan," the department’s lead official told the committee, urging members to review the full, revised text.

Court timeline and process: Staff said plaintiffs will file their response on Dec. 1; PED and partners will have 15 calendar days to reply. The court will then review filings and decide on next proceedings. Committee members urged PED to use the interval to convene plaintiffs, subject-matter experts and tribal representatives to reduce the risk of judicial sanctions and to strengthen public confidence.

Budget and capacity questions: Lawmakers probed the funding needed to implement year‑2 actions. Sonny Liu (LESC/LFC staff) said the department’s Public School Support Request (PSSR) submitted on Sept. 1 includes many plan components but that the current recurring increase in PED’s request is smaller than prior years and does not yet include some compensation requests; staff estimated a recurring increase in the range of roughly $80–$90 million under current assumptions (not including compensation and benefits), and noted additional higher‑education faculty or staffing needs would require separate budget action.

Assessment and procurement concerns: Several legislators raised problems with the Amira formative literacy tool (speech recognition and AI features failing for students with accents or speech atypicalities). PED said it is working with the vendor to address problems and training districts on available configurations, but that a new procurement is not yet underway. Lawmakers asked for procurement timelines and for flexibility or alternatives for districts when a tool does not produce usable instructional data.

Accountability, tribal consultation and special education: Legislators repeatedly pushed PED for public-facing, verifiable metrics and for mechanisms that give tribal governments meaningful roles in financial decision-making affecting Native students. PED said the plan includes financial‑tracking work, an accreditation and discipline dashboard, expanded tribal consultations and clearer outcome measures tied to implementation responsibilities. Committee members from tribal and rural districts pressed for culturally specific supports (for example, requests that schools on Navajo Nation have ceremonial spaces and stronger tribal engagement in facility decisions) and for faster timelines on special‑education remediation.

What lawmakers asked for: Multiple members urged PED to "give accountability efforts some teeth" and asked how the department will ensure the plan is implemented across districts and higher education (teacher-prep) programs; PED replied that the plan mandates recruitment, preservice-training changes and reporting and that staff will stand ready to provide periodic updates and to respond to the court’s direction.

Next steps: The plaintiffs’ Dec. 1 filing and PED’s 15‑day reply will frame the court’s next actions. PED and legislative staff said they will continue joint work to cost out implementation items, refine procurement and assessment strategies and build public dashboards to track progress.