SANTA FE, N.M. - Nuevamente llegó el momento de "A leer en todo Estados Unidos". El lanzamiento de este programa de duración anual comienza este lunes con un reconocimiento a un contador de cuentos de Nuevo México y culmina con una celebración de lectura y literalidad que tendrá lugar el 2 de marzo, día del cumpleaños del Dr. Seuss.

Todo comenzará en la Casa de Representantes del estado, donde se dará un reconocimiento al renombrado narrador de cuentos de Nuevo México y presidente del programa A leer en todo Estados Unidos de este año, Joe Hayes.

"Cuando cuentas un cuento los niños dicen: 'En cuál libro está ese cuento?' Les gusta hacer la conexión entre disfrutar la narración verbal del cuento y luego leerlo y absorberlo por ese medio."

En el estado, A leer en todo Estados Unidos es un programa de NEA New Mexico (NEA Nuevo México). Esta organización tiene programada una celebración en la escuela Aspen de Santa Fe, el miércoles. Hayes dice que dada la cantidad de tiempo que los niños pasan frente a las pantallas, leer es hoy más importante que nunca.

"Tenemos tanta tecnología y tanta comunicación electrónica que la gente tiende a olvidar que el fundamento de todo es la lectura. Creo que de veras necesitamos enfatizar que leer es la joya de la corona de la educación."

Hayes opina que el vínculo entre la lectura y el lenguaje es especialmente importante en Nuevo México.

"Me gusta decirles a los niños: 'Yo aprendí mucho español de mis amigos cuando era niño, pero luego aprendí mucho español leyendo. Leo en español todo el tiempo y así fue como realmente supe cómo escribir en español.'"

Durante la celebración se hará la presentación de "Cat and the Hat" (Gato y el Sombrero), además de muchas otras sorpresas a lo largo y ancho del estado.


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Special state funding for mental health staff at Michigan public schools during the pandemic is ending this year, leaving schools scrambling to find ways to keep the professionals in the building.

The $240-million grant started in 2021, as students coped with challenges, from virtual learning and canceled sports to losing a loved one to COVID. Now, districts are seeking alternatives.

Diane Golzynski, deputy superintendent of business, health and library services for the Michigan Department of Education, said the options include a program known as the School Mental Health Apprenticeship Program to encourage people to choose mental health careers by giving them financial support.

"To pay folks who need to do their supervised practice internships in order to go into this field; it's to give them a small wage, so they can actually do that," Golzynski explained.

She pointed out districts can also apply for Medicaid matching funds for all their eligible work is eligible and use those dollars to keep mental health providers in schools.

Golzynski stressed the goal is to build a comprehensive school mental health system.

"We don't want to just put professionals in the schools, we want to put professionals in the schools that the schools need, because there's different types of professionals," Golzynski noted. "It might be a psychologist, it might be a counselor, it might a social worker, it might be a school nurse."

She emphasized her department is also working with the districts on how to best use their mental health staffers.

Critics might counter it is parents' responsibility to take care of their children's mental health needs. But Golzynski countered it is often in school where these issues are flagged or acknowledged.

"It's the schools partnering with the families to help support this child, so that the child can be the best learner possible," Golzynski asserted.

Golzynski added another school mental health funding program on the table offers a per-pupil allocation to each district.


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School districts around Washington and elsewhere may have celebrated School Lunch Hero Day on Friday, a salute to cafeteria workers - but food service employees are asking for more than just a pat on the back. They're asking for a wage that keeps up with inflation.

Washington State has about 6,500 school food service workers who make the average full-time equivalent of just over $54,000 a year.

Paul Buse-Bing is kitchen manager at Pine Lake Middle School in Sammamish.

"All the positions in the school district are important, and everybody works hard. But students who don't have a proper meal aren't getting nutritious food, then they're not capable of participating to their fullest extent in their school day. And so what we do is very important," he said.

This year, lawmakers denied a request from Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdahl to give paraeducators a $7/hour pay raise; in his re-election campaign he has said he intends to seek a more broad-based increase for classified workers next year.

Buse-Bing said as the cost of living has gone up, the relatively low wages are making it hard to find enough staff.

"We go through the school year a lot of times understaffed, and we don't have substitutes or other people to fill in when people get sick or go on vacation, and a lot has to do with the pay wage. Especially with the inflation," he added.

Many school districts say they are strapped for funding and need more state resources in order to
recruit and retain qualified workers.


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It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and there's some mixed news when it comes to how well South Dakota is compensating its teachers.

According to the National Education Association's annual Rankings and Estimates report, the national average teacher salary increased about 4% to nearly $70,000 a year between the 2021 and 2022 school years.

But adjusted for inflation, teachers still make 5% less than they did a decade ago.

President of the South Dakota Education Association Loren Paul noted that teachers there saw one of the highest salary increases across the country this year - a more than 5% jump.

"And the last three years, we've seen more than what is required by the state," said Paul. "So, hopefully we can continue that trend."

Despite the increase, South Dakota didn't shake its national salary rank of 49th, at just over $53,000.

The last time the South Dakota Legislature enacted a law to increase teacher pay was in 2016, when it raised the state's sales tax by $0.005.

South Dakota's highest ranking in the report of 27th was for its starting salary, which averages $43,000. Paul said that helps bring in new educators, but doesn't do much to retain them.

"Overall salary increases are tied to retention," said Paul, "and if you're losing them off the top faster than you can bring them in the bottom, raising the average is what's important, not just the starting salary."

He said teacher retention and shortages remain nationwide issues. North Dakota and Wyoming, which both rank higher, use state revenue from the fossil fuel industry to help pay teachers.