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Feb. 10 First News: Controversial Student Retention Bill Up For Debate In State House (Listen)

On the agenda for the New Mexico House of Representatives today is final consideration of a controversial student retention bill. House Bill 41, sponsored by Albuquerque Representative Monica Youngblood, calls for holding back third-graders who are not reading proficiently and giving them intensive remediation. The legislation is backed by Republican Governor Susana Martinez, whose plan to end social promotion faces opposition from Senate Democrats, who hold that chamber’s majority. One of the Senate opponents is Silver City’s Howie Morales. Morales contends the retention bill originated from the State of Florida and not from Governor Martinez. And he says the proposal was based on discrimination. Morales adds that third grade was chosen solely because it comes the year before the year—4th grade—when students are subject to the testing that determines where they’re at academically—the exam known as “NAPE,” or the National Assessment of Educational Progress.  *****021015-Morales-1 :23***** Morales, who’s a career educator, maintains that intervention will beat retention. *****021015-Morales-2 :39***** The Senate’s most vocal opponent has been Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, who says student retention should be based on teachers' assessments and not test scores. Opponents also say retaining students damages them psychologically.

A New Mexico lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for working pregnant women. Republican Rep. Terry McMillan of Las Cruces says the state can do a better job protecting pregnant women in the workplace. He says his bill would bring the state in line with federal standards. Reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers would include more flexibility of schedules as well as shorter hours or leave time. The legislation mirrors language in the Federal American with Disabilities Act. It ensures that a woman's job is protected during pregnancy while allowing her to look after her health. McMillan filed the legislation Monday. He says it balances a desire to protect working pregnant women as well as the economic needs of small businesses.

A hearing is scheduled on a lawsuit that could radically transform New Mexico's two-party primary system. State District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd is expected to weigh in today on a lawsuit filed by 45-year-old David Crum on behalf of the state's 250-thousand independent voters. The Albuquerque resident is seeking to allow people the right to pick a party on the day of the primary so they can vote. Currently, New Mexico's state elections only let Republicans and Democrats vote during primary elections — something critics say contributes to low voter turnout. Officials said voter turnout dropped eight-percent in New Mexico's June primary election, with only one in five Democratic and Republican voters casting ballots last year. The Republican Party of New Mexico wants the lawsuit dismissed.

The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities—an organization including representatives from the Cities of Santa Fe and Española, the Town of Taos, Jemez and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblos, as well as Santa Fe, Taos and Rio Arriba Counties—is meeting to discuss cleanup efforts at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Washington, D. C. this week. Organizers say the focus is on growing federal investment in environmental cleanup. The Coalition wants to ensure that fines levied by the state are paid by the U.S. Energy Department and not taken out of the lab's cleanup budget. The meetings are taking place nearly one year after a container of waste shipped from the lab to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant ruptured last February. The incident contaminated workers and has left WIPP closed since then.

Santa Fe Weather: Sunny, with a high near 62. Tonight: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain and snow after midnight. Tomorrow: Partly sunny with a 20-percent chance for a mixture of rain and snow and a high of 47.