New Mexico starts to expand pre-K in pueblos, tribes and nations

Esteban Candelaria , Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·3 min read
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Jul. 27—New Mexico pre-K isn't just for children living in the state's biggest cities.

On the heels of big promises to expand access to the program statewide, the Office of the Governor and Early Childhood Education and Care Department on Thursday announced over $11.7 million to bring more than 550 new seats in early education classrooms to Indigenous children throughout New Mexico.

"It's historical, I don't think there's ever been an agreement of this capacity in early childhood between the state and the tribal communities," Assistant Secretary for Native American Early Education and Care Cotillion Sneddy told the Journal.

The expansions — in the Pueblos of Tesuque and Nambé, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the Navajo Nation and the To'Hajiilee Navajo Chapter — were effectuated through intergovernmental agreements, officials wrote in a news release. Each agreement is for three years.

Most of the slots are going to the Navajo Nation, which will see a total of 500 spread across largely federally-funded programs in New Mexico.

"Navajo Head Start is excited to begin the extension of service hours this summer with the help of ECECD," said Roy Tracey, delegated assistant superintendent for Navajo Head Start in the release. "Twenty-six ... sites will benefit from the pre-K funding and extended hours, which will have a major impact on the young children in our communities."

All of the additional slots being funded, Sneddy said, will be on tribal lands.

Sneddy has previously spoken about the department's intentions to loop in tribal governments in the state's pre-K expansions, adding that New Mexico can only do that at their discretion because it's ultimately up to them to decide what they want.

"We accepted what the tribal communities proposed. We didn't try to facilitate, change their mind or guide their decision making," she said. "We accepted whatever they applied for."

Sneddy hopes the benefits this year's cohort will see will encourage more to join in.

The new slots were met with some hesitation.

Citing concerns that federally funded Head Start programs — which the vast majority of the new slots are going into — have contributed to the withering of Indigenous cultures and languages, Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo, said it was crucial that those programs listened to tribal leaders and education departments while educating students in the new slots.

"We as tribes need to have the authority and the autonomy to create our own curriculum, so that we're not having to follow somebody else's in terms of the paternalistic ways that I think had been ways in the past in regards to how ... we teach our children to be just like every other Western education society," he told the Journal.

The expansion brings collaboration between New Mexico pre-K and tribal governments to five, Sneddy said. The Pueblo of Tesuque was funded for 10 additional slots last fiscal year, and was renewed for 10 again this year along with the other four governments.

Thursday's announcement is part of a statewide expansion of pre-K services touted by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at the White House last week.

That expansion is being funded with money from a constitutional amendment approved by New Mexico voters in November.

"I want every 3- and 4-year-old child to access high-quality early childhood education no matter where they live, " Lujan Grisham said in the release. "An essential part of these agreements is also their flexibility, ensuring that tribal sovereignty is respected, and cultures and languages are preserved through these programs."

Here are the pueblos, tribes and nations that will see expanded pre-K services for their children and what they're receiving:

The Navajo Nation — receiving $8,652,800 for a total of 500 slots, some of which are aimed at 3- and 4-year olds;The To'Hajiilee Navajo Chapter — receiving $906,500 for 20 pre-K slots;Pueblo of Nambé — receiving $1,078,000 for 16 slots;Mescalero Apache Tribe — receiving $561,000 for eight pre-K slots;Pueblo of Tesuque — renewed for $532,000 for 10 pre-K slots.