Public Education Commission map adjusted to give Natives more say
Dec. 10—As the legislative redistricting process plays out at the state Capitol, one political entity that's being remapped is flying under the radar.
The 10-member Public Education Commission oversees the 50 state-approved charter schools. The House State Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee chose a map Tuesday that would increase the Native American majority voting power in one district.
The map would boost the Native American majority population from about 52 percent to 55 percent in District 5 in the northwestern part of the state. The Native community wants that change because the four "District 5 charter schools that are overseen by the PEC are all predominantly Native American students," Leonard Gorman, executive director of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission, told the committee members.
Native American leaders and communities have been advocating for more voting power as the Legislature adopts maps for redistricting, which states must do every 10 years based on updated U.S. census data.
Unlike the current Public Education Commission map, House Bill 9 — which still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives — deviates from the vertical alignment of some eastern districts.
As such, districts 8 and 9, which run side by side in the southeastern part of the state, would instead be stacked on top of each other.
District 10, which includes a number of Santa Fe and Taos charter schools, would push farther east along the northern rim of the state. The map does not reveal whether changing district boundaries would lead to a commissioner picking up or losing some charter schools.
The Public Education Commission, which has served as the determining body for authorizing the opening — or closing — of a state-chartered school for about 15 years, usually does not generate controversy.
The commission garnered the most attention some 10 years ago when leaders of several proposed charter schools whose applications were rejected succeeded in getting the rejections overturned through the state's education secretary, Hanna Skandera. In December 2010, she reversed a commission decision and gave three charter schools permission to open.
The commission has since worked to tighten its hold on its oversight duties.
Brian Sanderoff, head of Research & Polling Inc., which has been creating the maps for both the Citizens Redistricting Committee and lawmakers, told the committee that during a series of public hearings on the various maps, "there was a lot more interest when it came to Congress and the state Legislature and state Senate than there was on the PEC."
Local school boards can also authorize the opening and closing of charter schools, and about half of the state's roughly 100 charter schools are under local districts.
