NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) will receive nearly $60 million in federal grant funds over the next five years to improve literacy outcomes.
The PED said it will work with the Early Childhood Education and Care Department and the Department of Higher Education to improve the preliteracy skills of children under age five and increase the percentage of elementary, middle, and high school students who meet the state’s language and literacy proficiency standards.
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“This vital funding will enable us to enhance the literacy efforts we have been implementing across the state, reach more learners, and provide the resources necessary to foster a lifelong love of reading and learning,” said PED Deputy Secretary Candice Castillo in a news release.
The PED will receive $11.99 million per year, contingent upon appropriations from Congress and the progress of the PED toward performance targets outlined in the grant application. The funds were awarded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Grant.
The PED will distribute 95 percent of grant funds to district and regional education cooperative (REC) subgrantees for local infrastructure support, materials, coaching, and other activities to improve literacy outcomes of the most disadvantaged children in the state.
The remaining five percent of grant funds will support salary and benefits for three full-time employees to monitor the progress of subgrantees and support the implementation of subgrantees’ literacy plans.
