LOCAL COLUMN
OPINION: 32,000 reasons to rethink education in NM
New Mexico has an incredible opportunity to rethink what education can look like by listening to young people.
From Aztec to Carlsbad, thousands of young people are telling us what would keep them connected to school and feeling prepared for their futures. Their answers are strikingly consistent: meaningful learning connected to real life and careers, caring adults and mentors who genuinely know them, and mental health support that values well-being alongside academics. Young people have given us a roadmap. The research backs them up.
Growing evidence on social capital, belonging and connection challenges a long-held assumption in education: that academic achievement alone is the strongest predictor of success. Academic content matters, but access to opportunity, durable skills and meaningful relationships may be even more powerful predictors of a young person's long-term success and economic well-being. Yet among New Mexico students in grades six through 12, only 45% report a sense of belonging at school, and just 38% report a sense of self-efficacy. Young people are telling us, both through their voices and the data, that we must design education differently.
At Future Focused Education, we did not invent paid work-based learning, but after placing students in more than 2,500 internships across New Mexico, we have cracked the code on what makes it an opportunity worth investing in. Paid internships do more than help a young person earn a paycheck. They build independence, confidence, networks and a clearer vision for the future. When young people need transportation, mental health support or help navigating barriers, those supports are not extras. They are part of an intentional coaching design built around what young people need to thrive.
We know what works, and the cost of not investing in systems designed around the realities young people face today is significant. Approximately 32,000 New Mexicans between the ages of 16 and 24 are neither working or in school, costing our state an estimated $623 million annually. Each year, nearly 5,000 high school seniors do not graduate, with an estimated economic impact of $40 million. They are not the problem, they are 32,000 reasons to rethink education.
The exciting part is that New Mexico already has examples of what is possible. Through paid internships, graduate reengagement, mastery-based capstones, guaranteed basic income pilots and youth behavioral health career pathways, young people are reconnecting to school, work, community and purpose. New Mexico's new graduation framework gives us an opportunity to take what we are learning locally and build more flexible, student-centered pathways across our state.
But transformation requires investment. We cannot expect sustainable outcomes from pilots and fragmented funding. If we want more young people graduating, entering meaningful careers, building economic security and becoming leaders in their communities, we must predictably invest in what we know works. This is not simply an investment in education. It is an investment in New Mexico's economic future, the health of our communities and the next generation of leaders who will shape our state. We鈥檙e overdue on trusting our youth to lead. If we want to lift New Mexico, we must bet boldly on our young people and invest in the systems that allow them to thrive.
Kim Lanoy-Sandoval has worked in education for 25 years and is executive director of Future Focused Education. Kenneth Stowe is the director of Instituto del Puente at Future Focused Education.
