Judge rejects governor's motion to dismiss Yazzie/Martinez
Jun 29, 2020 Updated 26 min ago
A state district judge on Monday rejected a request by the governor to dismiss Yazzie/Martinez vs. The State of New Mexico, a landmark education funding lawsuit.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's Office had filed a motion asking First Judicial District Judge Matthew Wilson to end the court's oversight of education reform required under a ruling in the case that found the state was denying an adequate education to some of its most vulnerable students. The plaintiffs opposed the dismissal.
The motion argued the New Mexico public education system under Lujan Grisham's administration is substantially different from the one in place in the summer of 2018, when the late Judge Sarah Singleton ruled it had been failing to provide a sufficient education to Native American, special-education and low-income students, as well as English-language learners.
The Public Education Department, not the courts, should oversee reforms, the Governor's Office said.
Wilson disagreed.
"Until there are long-term comprehensive reforms implemented by the state, the court will maintain jurisdiction over this case," Wilson said via video conference.
"The court agrees with the plaintiff's counsel that to dismiss this action now while implementation and compliance are merely in their initial stages would undermine years of work and leave the children of New Mexico in an educational system that may be below constitutional standards."
Wilson took over the case after Singleton died in July 2019.
This is a developing story.
Meredith Machen
League of Women Voters of New Mexico
Empowering Voters - Defending Democracy