New Mexico education officials miss transparency deadline
By CEDAR ATTANASIO
Associated Press / Report for America
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s education department launched a school spending transparency website Tuesday, after failing to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to do so. The public education transparency portal was mandated by the Legislature in 2020 to make it easier for people to see how schools were spending taxpayer money. Lawmakers may use the information to help craft the over $3 billion education budget this year. The education department says it delayed the website’s launch after school accountants raised concerns about the portal’s functionality. It launched the site following inquiries Monday from The Associated Press, but without financial information from most individual schools.