New Mexico Education Equity Alliance (NMEEA)

Mission Statement

We are a New Mexico origin collective of youth, community members, educators and allies. As we live in a multicultural state and planet, we reject the hidden agenda in the current U.S. educational system that posits the dominance of one group over all others. This dominance pervades economics, politics, ideology and culture. Our current educational system is founded on this dominance. We work to transform our educational system into one that is  truly inclusive, equitable and just, which means:  a living system, dynamic, ever deepening our understanding of our interdependence, reflecting all our perspectives; that is transparent, rigorous, critical, and determined and controlled by local communities.

Unifying points:

1. Every child has a right to a high quality, equitably funded, public education based on:

1. Participatory democratic principles
2. Building community power and self-determination
3. A challenging, comprehensive and critical curriculum
4. Respect for cultural diversity and a commitment to anti-racism

2. We support campaigns to get more voices of educators, students, and community into the public discussion of school policies.
3. We oppose the current policy of high stakes standardized testing because it reflects the standards and norms of dominant groups in society, it is an inaccurate and incomplete assessment of learning, and it stifles pedagogical innovation and active learning.
4. Punitive disciplinary measures such as “Zero Tolerance” stigmatize, marginalize or criminalize youth and are not an answer to crime or other social problems.  We believe economic and social priorities should be toward education of young people and not exploitation or incarceration.
5. Schools must be safe spaces for all our youth. Verbal and physical abuse targeting students by gender, race, religion or sexuality is extremely prevalent in most schools, and must be challenged and eliminated by all faculty, staff, and administrators.