Constitution of New Mexico (2025 publisher edition) — ARTICLE XII

Publisher edition notice: This collection preserves the complete Secretary of State's 2025 compilation, identifying amendments through 2024, including the publisher's source notes and annotations. Later amendments have not been independently verified.

ARTICLE XII

ARTICLE XII Education Sec. 1. Free public schools. 2. Permanent school fund. 3. Control of constitutional educational insti- tutions; use of state land proceeds and other educational funds. 4. Current school fund. 5. Compulsory school attendance. 6. Public education department; public educa- tion commission. 7. Investment of permanent school fund. 8. Teachers to learn English and Spanish. 9. Religious tests in schools. 10. Educational rights of children of Spanish descent. 11. State educational institutions. 12. Acceptance and use of Enabling Act edu- cational grants. 13. Board of regents for educational institu- tions. 14. Recall of local school board members. 15. Local school boards having seven single- member districts. Section 1. [Free public schools.] A uniform system of free public schools sufficient for the education of, and open to, all the children of school age in the state shall be established and maintained.

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149© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education Sec. 2. [Permanent school fund.] The permanent school fund of the state shall consist of the proceeds of sales of Sections Two, Sixteen, Thirty-Two and Thirty- Six in each township of the state, or the lands selected in lieu thereof; the pro- ceeds of sales of all lands that have been or may hereafter be granted to the state not otherwise appropriated by the terms and conditions of the grant; such portion of the proceeds of sales of land of the United States within the state as has been or may be granted by congress; all earnings, including interest, dividends and capital gains from investment of the permanent school fund; also all other grants, gifts and devises made to the state, the purpose of which is not otherwise specified. (As amended Novem- ber 5, 1996.) Sec. 3. [Control of constitutional educational institutions; use of state land proceeds and other educational funds.] The schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions provided for by this constitution shall forever remain un- der the exclusive control of the state, and no

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150© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education part of the proceeds arising from the sale or disposal of any lands granted to the state by congress, or any other funds appropriated, levied or collected for educational pur- poses, shall be used for the support of any sectarian, denominational or private school, college or university. Sec. 4. [Current school fund.] All forfeitures, unless otherwise pro- vided by law, and all fines collected under general laws; the net proceeds of property that may come to the state by escheat; the rentals of all school lands and other lands granted to the state, the disposition of which is not otherwise provided for by the terms of the grant or by act of congress shall con- stitute the current school fund of the state. (As amended November 2, 1971, Novem- ber 4, 1986 and November 5, 1996.) Sec. 5. [Compulsory school attendance.] Every child of school age and of suffi- cient physical and mental ability shall be required to attend a public or other school during such period and for such time as may be prescribed by law.

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151© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education Sec. 6. [Public education department; public education commission.] A. There is hereby created a "public education department" and a "public ed- ucation commission" that shall have such powers and duties as provided by law. The department shall be a cabinet department headed by a secretary of public education who is a qualified, experienced educator who shall be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. B. Ten members of the public educa- tion commission shall be elected for stag- gered terms of four years as provided by law. Commission members shall be resi- dents of the public education commission district from which they are elected. Change of residence of a commission member to a place outside the district from which he was elected shall automatically terminate the term of that member. C. The governor shall fill vacancies on the commission by appointment of a resi- dent from the district in which the vacancy occurs until the next regular election for membership on the commission. D. The secretary of public education shall have administrative and regulatory

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152© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education powers and duties, including all functions relating to the distribution of school funds and financial accounting for the public schools to be performed as provided by law. E. The elected members of the 2003 state board of education shall constitute the public education commission, if this amendment is approved, until their terms expire and the districts from which the state board of education were elected shall constitute the state public education com- mission districts until changed by law. (As amended November 4, 1958, effective Jan- uary 1, 1959, November 4, 1986, and Sep- tember 23, 2003.) Sec. 7. [Investment of permanent school fund.] A. As used in this section, "land grant permanent funds" means the permanent school fund described in Article 12, Sec- tion 2 of this constitution and all other per- manent funds derived from lands granted or confirmed to the state by the act of congress of June 20, 1910, entitled "An act to enable the people of New Mexico to form a consti- tution and state government and be admit-

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153© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education ted into the union on an equal footing with the original states.". B. The land grant permanent funds shall be invested by the state investment officer in accordance with policy rules pro- mulgated by the state investment council. C. In making investments, the state in- vestment officer, under the supervision of the state investment council, shall invest and manage the land grant permanent funds in accordance with the Uniform Prudent Inves- tor Act [45-7-601 to 45-7-612 NMSA 1978]. D. The legislature may establish crite- ria for investing the land grant permanent funds if the criteria are enacted by a three- fourths' vote of the members elected to each house, but investment of the land grant per- manent funds is subject to the following re- strictions: (1) not more than sixty-five percent of the book value of the land grant permanent funds shall be invested at any given time in corporate stocks; (2) not more than ten percent of the vot- ing stock of a corporation shall be held; and (3) stocks eligible for purchase shall be restricted to those stocks of businesses listed upon a national stock exchange or

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154© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education included in a nationally recognized list of stocks. E. All additions to the land grant per- manent funds and all earnings, including interest, dividends and capital gains from investment of the land grant permanent funds shall be credited to the land grant per- manent funds. F. The annual distributions from the land grant permanent funds to the benefi- ciaries specified in the Ferguson Act and the Enabling Act shall be five percent of the average of the year-end market values of the land grant permanent funds for the immediately preceding five calendar years. G. In addition to the annual distribu- tions made pursuant to Subsection F of this section, unless suspended pursuant to Subsection J of this section, an annual dis- tribution of one and one-fourth percent of the average of the year-end market value of the permanent school fund for the immedi- ately preceding five calendar years shall be made as provided in Subsection H of this section; provided that the additional distri- bution shall not be made in any fiscal year if the average of the year-end market val- ues of the land grant permanent funds for the immediately preceding five calendar

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155© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education years is less than seventeen billion dollars ($17,000,000,000). H. Unless suspended pursuant to Sub- section G or J of this section, the additional distribution from the permanent school fund provided for in Subsection G of this section shall be as follows and as provided by law: (1) forty percent of the additional distri- bution shall be for the public school perma- nent fund beneficiary for enhanced instruc- tion for students at risk of failure, extending the school year and public school teacher compensation; and (2) sixty percent of the additional dis- tribution shall be for the provision of early childhood education. I. As used in this section, "early child- hood education" means nonsectarian and nondenominational education for children until they are eligible for kindergarten. J. The legislature, by a three-fifths' vote of the members elected to each house, may suspend any additional distribution provided for in Subsection G of this section. (As amended November 4, 1958, Septem- ber 23, 1965, November 6, 1990, Novem- ber 5, 1996, September 23, 2003, Novem- ber 4, 2014 and November 8, 2022.)

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156© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education Sec. 8. [Teachers to learn English and Spanish.] The legislature shall provide for the train- ing of teachers in the normal schools or oth- erwise so that they may become proficient in both the English and Spanish languages, to qualify them to teach Spanish-speaking pupils and students in the public schools and educational institutions of the state, and shall provide proper means and meth- ods to facilitate the teaching of the English language and other branches of learning to such pupils and students. Sec. 9. [Religious tests in schools.] No religious test shall ever be required as a condition of admission into the public schools or any educational institution of this state, either as a teacher or student, and no teacher or student of such school or institu- tion shall ever be required to attend or par- ticipate in any religious service whatsoever. Sec. 10. [Educational rights of children of Spanish descent.] Children of Spanish descent in the state of New Mexico shall never be denied the

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157© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education right and privilege of admission and atten- dance in the public schools or other public educational institutions of the state, and they shall never be classed in separate schools, but shall forever enjoy perfect equality with other children in all public schools and ed- ucational institutions of the state, and the legislature shall provide penalties for the violation of this section. This section shall never be amended except upon a vote of the people of this state, in an election at which at least three-fourths of the electors voting in the whole state and at least two-thirds of those voting in each county in the state shall vote for such amendment. Sec. 11. [State educational institutions.] The university of New Mexico, at Al- buquerque; the New Mexico state univer- sity, near Las Cruces, formerly known as New Mexico college of agriculture and mechanic arts; the New Mexico highlands university, at Las Vegas, formerly known as New Mexico normal university; the west- ern New Mexico university, at Silver City, formerly known as New Mexico western college and New Mexico normal school; the eastern New Mexico university, at Por-

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158© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education tales, formerly known as eastern New Mex- ico normal school; the New Mexico insti- tute of mining and technology, at Socorro, formerly known as New Mexico school of mines; the New Mexico military institute, at Roswell, formerly known as New Mexico military institute; the New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, at Al- amogordo, formerly known as New Mex- ico school for the visually handicapped; the New Mexico school for the deaf, at Santa Fe, formerly known as New Mexico asylum for the deaf and dumb; the northern New Mex- ico state school, at El Rito, formerly known as Spanish- American school; are hereby confirmed as state educational institutions. All lands, together with the natural products thereof and the money proceeds of any of the lands and products, held in trust for the institutions, respectively, under their former names, and all properties heretofore granted to, or owned by, or which may hereafter be granted or conveyed to, the institutions re- spectively, under their former names, shall, in like manner as heretofore, be held in trust for, or owned by or be considered granted to, the institutions individually under their names as hereinabove adopted and con- firmed. The appropriations made and which

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159© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education may hereafter be made to the state by the United States for agriculture and mechani- cal colleges and experiment stations in con- nection therewith shall be paid to the New Mexico state university, formerly known as New Mexico college of agriculture and me- chanic arts. (As repealed and reenacted No- vember 8, 1960; as amended November 3, 1964 and November 2, 2004.) Sec. 12. [Acceptance and use of Enabling Act educational grants.] All lands granted under the provisions of the act of congress, entitled, "An act to enable the people of New Mexico to form a constitution and state government and be admitted into the union on an equal foot- ing with the original states; and to enable the people of Arizona to form a constitu- tion and state government and be admitted into the union on an equal footing with the original states," for the purposes of said several institutions are hereby accepted and confirmed to said institutions, and shall be exclusively used for the purposes for which they were granted; provided, that one hun- dred and seventy thousand acres of the land granted by said act for normal school pur-

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160© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education poses are hereby equally apportioned be- tween said three normal institutions, and the remaining thirty thousand acres thereof is reserved for a normal school which shall be established by the legislature and located in one of the counties of Union, Quay, Curry, Roosevelt, Chaves or Eddy. Sec. 13. [Board of regents for educational institutions.] A. The legislature shall provide for the control and management of each of the institutions, except the university of New Mexico, by a board of regents for each in- stitution, consisting of five members, four of whom shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico, one of whom shall be a member of the student body of the insti- tution and no more than three of whom at the time of their appointment shall be mem- bers of the same political party; provided, however, that the student body member provision in this subsection shall not apply to the New Mexico school for the deaf, the New Mexico military institute or the New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, and for each of those three insti- tutions all five members of the board of re-

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161© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education gents shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico. B. The governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall ap- point the members of each board of regents for each of the institutions. The terms of nonstudent members shall be for staggered terms of six years, and the terms of student members shall be two years. C. The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the pres- ident of the institution. In making the list, the president of the institution shall give due consideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the institu- tion. Following the approval by the voters of this 2014 amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position on the northern New Mexico state school board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a stu- dent member to serve a two-year term. D. The legislature shall provide for the control and management of the univer- sity of New Mexico by a board of regents consisting of seven members, six of whom shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico, one of whom shall be a mem-

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162© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education ber of the student body of the university of New Mexico and no more than four of whom at the time of their appointment shall be members of the same political party. The governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint the members of the board of regents. The present five members shall serve out their present terms. The two additional members shall be appointed in 1987 for terms of six years. Following the approval by the vot- ers of this amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position held by a nonstudent member on the university of New Mexico's board of regents, the governor shall nomi- nate and by and with the consent of the sen- ate shall appoint a student member to serve a two- year term. The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the president of the university of New Mexico. In making the list, the president of the uni- versity of New Mexico shall give due con- sideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the university. E. Members of the board shall not be removed except for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Provided, however, no removal shall be made without

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163© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education notice of hearing and an opportunity to be heard having first been given such mem- ber. The supreme court of the state of New Mexico is hereby given exclusive original jurisdiction over proceedings to remove members of the board under such rules as it may promulgate, and its decision in con- nection with such matters shall be final. (As amended September 20, 1949, effective January 1, 1950, November 4, 1986, No- vember 8, 1994 and November 4, 2014.) Sec. 14. [Recall of local school board members.] Any elected local school board mem- ber is subject to recall by the voters of the school district from which elected. A peti- tion for a recall election must cite grounds of malfeasance or misfeasance in office or violation of the oath of office by the mem- ber concerned. The recall petition shall be signed by registered voters not less in num- ber than thirty-three and one- third percent of those who voted for the office at the last preceding election at which the office was voted upon. Procedures for filing petitions and for determining validity of signatures shall be as provided by law. If at the special

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164© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XII – Education election a majority of the votes cast on the question of recall are in favor thereof, the local school board member is recalled from office and the vacancy shall be filled as pro- vided by law. (As added November 6, 1973; and as amended November 4, 1986.) Sec. 15. [Local school boards having seven single- member districts.] In those local school districts having a population of more than two hundred thou- sand, as shown by the most recent decennial census, the qualified electors of the districts may choose to have a local school board composed of seven members, residents of and elected from single member districts. If a majority of the qualified electors vot- ing in such a district election vote to have a seven-member board, the school district shall be divided into seven local school board member districts which shall be com- pact, contiguous and as nearly equal in pop- ulation as possible. One school board mem- ber shall reside within, and be elected from each local school board member district. Change of residence to a place outside the district from which a school board member was elected shall automatically terminate

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165© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XIII – Public Lands the service of that school board member and the office shall be declared vacant. The school board member districts shall be established by resolution of the local school board with the approval of the state legislature, and may be changed once after each federal decennial census by the local school board with the approval of the state legislature. The elections required under this amend- ment shall be called and conducted as pro- vided by law for other local school board elections. The state board of education shall, by resolution, establish the terms of the first board elected after the creation of such a seven-member board. (As added No- vember 4, 1980.)