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(Reuters) - When Stan Rounds heard about U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans to suspend new drilling on federal lands to fight climate change, he worried about the education budget.
FILE PHOTO: Drilling rigs operate in the Permian Basin oil and natural gas production area in Lea County, New Mexico, U.S., February 10, 2019. Picture taken February 10, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
Rounds heads a state association of school administrators. He knows that New Mexico - home to the country’s richest oil fields on federal lands - depends heavily on drilling revenues to finance its struggling public schools. And budgets have already taken a hit from falling crude prices as the coronavirus pandemic sapped global fuel demand.
(Adds dropped letter to administrators in 2nd paragraph) By Nichola Groom, Valerie Volcovici and Jennifer Hiller Feb 9 (Reuters) - When Stan Rounds he.
By Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican |
January 21, 2021
As state education officials continue to look for ways to safely reopen schools to students, Republican legislators want that power to be put in the hands of local school boards.
“The goal is to try to get as many kids back into in-house schooling as soon as possible safely,” said Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, who said he plans to file legislation giving school boards, rather than the state, the authority to do that.
He said the bill will include an emergency clause making it law as soon as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs it, which could be as soon as mid-March if she supports it.