New Mexico

AMENDMENT LANGUAGE

State Constitutional Provision

N.M. Const. art. XII, § 3: "The schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions provided for by this constitution shall forever remain under the exclusive control of the state, and no 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 purposes, shall be used for the support of any sectarian, denominational or private school, college or university."

N.M. Const. art. XXI, § 4: “Provision shall be made for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools which shall be open to all the children of the state and free from sectarian control, and said schools shall always be conducted in English.”

RELEVANT CASES

State Courts

· Miller v. Cooper, 244 P.2d 520 (N.M. 1952) (The Supreme Court of New Mexico affirmed the trial court’s refusal to enjoin the continued employment of some teachers who made religious literature available in their classrooms and upheld the use of religious buildings for public school events when no other location could accommodate all those who desire to attend but reversed the trial courts’ refusal to enjoin the distribution of the religious literature).

· Zellers v. Huff, 236 P.2d 949 (N.M. 1951) (The Supreme Court of New Mexico held (1) certain teachers who taught religious doctrine and distributed religious literature during school hours in conflict with state statute were forever barred from teaching in a state public school; (2) though members of a religious order may teach in public schools, they are barred from wearing religious garb and insignia while acting as public school teachers; and (3) a church cannot administer a school system within the state public school system).

SECONDARY MATERIALS

State Attorney General Opinions

1999 Op. Atty. Gen. No. 01. (Concluding that Article XII, Section 3 as well as other constitutional provisions prohibit both the direct and indirect funding of private schools. This prohibition extends to a proposed voucher program transferring public money to parents of children attending private schools to assist with tuition costs.)

REPEAL EFFORTS

See the Heritage Foundation website for a list of state contacts.