New Mexico judge finds state education reform plan deficient, additions due in 2027

A New Mexico judge recently ruled that the state’s plan to address the landmark Yazzie/Martinez education equity lawsuit is deficient, and ordered the state education department to supplement the plan by March 2027.

In a Nov. 2 order, First Judicial District Judge Matthew Wilson found that the New Mexico Public Education Department’s remedial action plan, which addresses equitable education reform for at-risk students, is not comprehensive because it fails to address all previous judicial orders. Wilson also identified gaps in the action plan, including inadequate plans to address class sizes, textbook funding and summer school programs. 

Wilson’s ruling came in response to objections filed earlier this year by several organizations, including the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and Transform Education NM, that requested the court order PED to rewrite the plan the department submitted last November. 

Although Wilson agreed with plaintiffs that the plan is not comprehensive, the court did not grant the plaintiffs’ request that PED completely rewrite the plan to include stakeholder input. Instead, the court ordered PED to file a supplement by March 25, 2027. The additional materials must succinctly connect its remedial action to every constitutional violation in past court orders and provide ways to assess if remedial actions are successful. 

Both PED and plaintiffs in the case found reasons to commend Wilson’s decision.

In an emailed statement, PED spokesperson Janelle Taylor García said that the education department “welcomes” the order, “which upholds the department’s Action Plan and confirms that the state is on the right path to meet its obligations to New Mexico’s students.”

In regard to the required supplement to the plan, PED sees the order “as a valuable roadmap that provides greater clarity to the department in its work. The court said it is confident the PED can complete this supplement, and we share that confidence,” García said. 

PED, she said, “remains fully committed to delivering an excellent education for every New Mexico student, especially those the original case was brought to serve. This ruling allows us to keep moving that work forward.”

Alisa Diehl, a New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty attorney representing the plaintiffs, told Source NM that Wilson’s order “confirms what we’ve been saying for a year now, which is that PED’s plan still doesn’t fully address what the courts require” and falls short in connecting its solutions with “actual steps that will lead to an education system that our children are entitled to.”

While the court agreed with plaintiffs that the PED plan is insufficient, it did not require the state to work with plaintiffs or stakeholders on its supplemental plan. “We remain concerned that another version that’s produced by the agency without the expertise and input necessary to develop many solutions isn’t going to produce the changes that we need,” Diehl said. 

The lawsuit has been a watershed moment in education in New Mexico. In 2018, a district court determined New Mexico had violated its constitutional duty to provide a sufficient education to its students, particularly Native American and low-income students, English language learners and students with disabilities.

In 2025, Wilson found that PED hadn’t complied with the 2018 court ruling and ordered the education department to file a remedial action plan to fulfill its constitutional obligation to provide education support for all students. 

The latest ruling comes as Gov.-elect Deb Haaland prepares to take office next year, which education advocates say creates an opportunity for New Mexico to take a different approach and include further collaboration between stakeholders and PED. 

“We have so much to offer the next administration in terms of scholarship, analysis and lived experience from the ground and classrooms,” Loretta Trujillo, executive director of Transform Education New Mexico, told Source NM. “So it would be really important for the next administration to really partner with us.”

The sentiment was echoed by Regis Pecos, co-founder of the Tribal Education Alliance, who said extending the timeline to March to supplement the plan “allows for the opportunity for more collaboration with new leadership at the PED under Gov.-Elect Haaland.” 

Pecos said Haaland’s past comments, in which she called the plan inadequate and said she would bring the plaintiffs and tribes to the table, make him “hopeful” going forward. 

“This has to be a collaborative effort,” Pecos said. “My optimism comes from Haaland’s comments while campaigning. That’s a fundamental change toward finally ensuring New Mexico fulfills its constitutional obligations.”