Are schools in Taos and around the State making the cut? Not according to the Public Education Department report released yesterday, August 2nd. Preliminary Adequate Yearly Progress , or AYP, results show that 77.9 percent of schools did not make AYP. That’s 644 schools out of 827 total not making it. That’s worse than last year; which was worse than the year before, and so on.

In Taos, two charter schools made AYP: Taos Charter School and Anansi Charter School. Alta Vista Elementary and Questa Junior High made the grade for Questa.

How bad is this? Well, the schools are nowhere near where they need to be, but neither is the testing instrument, says New Mexico Public Education Secretary Designate, Dr. Susanna Murphy. She says each school must meet 37 different criteria to meet AYP. Murphy pointed out that 438 schools only missed between one and three indicators, ending up not making it. She said communities and parents should look at their schools and see where they can be improved.

If we don’t want to leave a child behind; well, it looks like we have to not leave them behind ourselves.