I blogged earlier this year on some polling which showed strong support for school choice among New Mexicans.
Some new polling which focuses on the views of Latinos in five “swing states” including New Mexico, show that Latinos are even more supportive of school choice than is the general population!
Among the findings:
69% of Latinos support vouchers compared with 57% of the general population;
78% of Latinos support “school choice options” compared with 74% of the general population;
71% of Latinos support tax credit scholarships compared with 65% of the general population.
Perhaps it is their strong desire for educational options and an improved education for their children that causes Gov. Martinez to garner strong support from Democrats and Republicans alike? This, of course, defies the “ownership attitude” of Bernalillo County’s Democratic Party Chair Ana Canales who said recently of Gov. Martinez’s speech at the RNC, “I’m appalled that a woman, a Hispanic woman would even be at a Republican function, she’s Hispanic, she’s a woman and she has turned on us.”
If support for school choice finally increases to the point where enough voters demand their legislators vote it in or be unelected we will have it. Until then they continue to be reelected and pander only to their union base to continue to get their bribes.
In the meantime, Educate New Mexico, the only school choice organization in the state, has no support from the current administration. We have helped more than 1,500 low income children attend schools of their choosing and the state legislature turns down any and all efforts to support us. The teachers union oppose any form for competition for their education monopoly.
Jack Stamm
Chairman Educate New Mexico