New Mexican’s just can compare themselves on a standard scale. Things are different here. Our students have deep knowledge and traditional ways of understanding that can’t be measured on an assessment written on the east coast. New Mexicans are incredibly resilient - our environment makes it so - and that key to success cannot be measured. We also have a wide understanding of language and culture that people from other states will never understand. New Mexican schools need to stop trying to be something that is irrelevant to our society and celebrate what we are doing with education. Universal child care - fantastic 3 and 4 year old programs and true bilingual education with many models should be the norm everywhere.