HB 130 was heard today by the House Appropriations Committee and in a 10-9 vote it was tabled. While we are disappointed by this turn of events after promising “do pass” motions from the House Education Committee and the House State Government, Elections, and Indian Affairs Committee, we stand ready to continue our advocacy for gifted students across New Mexico.

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for the sponsor of HB 130, Rep. Christine Trujillo. Rep. Trujillo has been a major advocate for gifted students for several years. Her steadfast support in the House has been one of the reasons our bills have been heard. We, also, would like to extend our appreciation to the National Association for Gifted Children who provided official letters of support for HB 130 and to Dr. Johnathan Plucker in particular for serving as an expert witness at two committee hearings.  Our bill was supported by the American Federation of Teachers, the New Mexico Educators AssicationsWe would, also, like to extend our deepest gratitude to the over 260 teachers, parents, students, and community members who signed our letter of support for HB 130. This overwhelming response from both members of NMAG and non-members is both humbling and a reminder of how many people we have supporting our gifted students.

While HB 130 has been tabled, NMAG is currently working on multiple additional ways of helping our students. Along with our affiliates and the PED, we are working to implement the recommendations of the Next Steps meetings held in 2020. NMAG is working on creating a diagnostic tool to allow districts and parent advisory councils to check the health of their gifted programs. We will continue to advocate for our students at the district, state, and federal levels.

You might be asking what you can do to help us. Please continue to reach out to your representatives and senators and let them know about the importance of education. Continue to advocate in your districts to ensure equity in gifted education and quality programming is seen as a priority. Finally, keep advocating for your gifted students in your schools. We know that if we work together we will be able to improve gifted education in New Mexico.

Thank you for your support,

Christopher Vian
President