SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s plan to address the needs of underserved Indigenous students hasn’t been shared with tribal leaders or the public despite promises to do so last year.
A draft of the plan was ready as early as October and Native American leaders were expecting to be invited to comment on the document ahead of its scheduled public release on Dec 1. That never happened, and advocates say the draft still is awaiting approval by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
“When it comes to promises, and it is a serious thing, it should have been followed up already,” said Mark Mitchell, recently named chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents 20 Native American tribes in New Mexico and Texas.
The New Mexico Public Education Department had hired former Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia to write the plan. She said she last worked on the project on Oct. 4.
Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said Tuesday the administration will release the plan “in the near future.”