Rebecca Blum Martinez, the director of the bilingual and ESL program at the University of New Mexico, said having every educator qualified to teach English learners makes sense in New Mexico. It’s the same requirement California has because of its large number of immigrant students. What’s more, she believes PED is undercounting the number of English learners in the state because more than one-third of households in New Mexico speak a language other than English.

“You never know when you’re going to have an English learner in your classroom,” Blum Martinez said.

By Sylvia Ulloa, New Mexico In Depth February 13, 2019

Continue reading at http://nmindepth.com/2019/02/13/new-teachers-would-need-training-in-teaching-esl-students-under-bill/