Taylor Velazquez

1 week ago | kunm.org | Taylor Velazquez

The study ‘Unarresting School Safety’ points out that students of color and those with disabilities are more likely to experience contact with school police than their peers. University of New Mexico Law Professor and study author Maryam Ahranjani said this issue was part of the landmark Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit.

2 weeks ago | kunm.org | Taylor Velazquez

A new report says  1 in 4 kids are at risk of hunger in New Mexico. The meal gap grew by 6 million from last year’s report, resulting in a lack of over 66 million meals statewide. Katy Anderson, vice president of strategy partnerships and advocacy at Roadrunner Food Bank said hunger is increasing nationally, but New Mexico’s challenges stem from many of the SNAP benefits that expired in 2023 once the COVID-19 emergency declaration was lifted.

2 weeks ago | kunm.org | Taylor Velazquez

The Kids Count Data book measures 16 indicators based in four issue areas – family and community, health, economic well-being, and education. New Mexico ranks 50th in overall child well being, education, and family and community, 49th in economic well being, and 46th in health. The numbers reflect the hardships brought on by the pandemic up to 2023. In education, proficiency rates worsened with data from fourth graders not reading at grade level, while eighth graders struggled in math.

3 weeks ago | kunm.org | Taylor Velazquez

As the school year wraps up, the New Mexico Public Education Department is reporting increased graduation rates with last year’s class having the highest number of graduates in the last fifteen years. New Mexico’s class of 2024 had a little over 78% of students graduate high school, which is a 1.34% increase from the previous year. The national graduation rate is 87%.

1 month ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Taylor Velazquez

as having a dental professional shortage . "Oral health care in New Mexico has a lot of challenges. There’s a severe shortage of providers so we want to graduate dentists that will go out into the community and practice in New Mexico," said Parkinson. That’s Executive Assistant Dean Joseph Parkinson. He said that by bringing Touro University to New Mexico they hope folks can find a long-term provider that will take Medicaid and most private insurance.