The schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions provided for by this constitution shall forever remain under the exclusive control of the state, and no part of the proceeds arising from the sale or disposal of any lands granted to the state by congress, or any other funds appropriated, levied or collected for educational purposes, shall be used for the support of any sectarian, denominational or private school, college or university.
Notes to Decisions
Provision of materials to private schools.
Children.
Former employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) suit against the University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents and its individual members was barred by the Eleventh Amendment because the Board was an arm of the state; the Ex parte Young exception was not triggered by general allegations of the Board members’ responsibility to enforce the ADA, as the Board members were required to act as a body corporate and were not empowered to act individually. Barrett v. Univ. of N.M. Bd. of Regents, 562 Fed. Appx. 692, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 7389 (10th Cir. 2014).
Provision of materials to private schools.
Instructional Material Law (IML), which provided books to students who attended private schools, violated N.M. Const. art XII § 3 as that constitutional provision forbade the provision of books for use by students attending private schools, whether such schools were secular or sectarian; furthermore, the IML violated N.M. Const. art XII § 3 as it provided support to private schools because those schools did not have to buy instructional materials with money they obtained by tuition or donations and they could divert that money to other uses in their schools. Weinbaum v. Skandera, 2015-NMSC-036, 367 P.3d 838, 2015 N.M. LEXIS 378 (N.M. 2015).
Notes to Unpublished Decisions
Construction with other law.
Unpublished decision: Former employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) suit against the University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents and its individual members was barred by the Eleventh Amendment because the Board was an arm of the state; the Ex parte Young exception was not triggered by general allegations of the Board members’ responsibility to enforce the ADA, as the Board members were required to act as a body corporate and were not empowered to act individually. Barrett v. Univ. of N.M. Bd. of Regents, 562 Fed. Appx. 692, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 7389 (10th Cir. 2014).
OPINIONS OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
Analysis
Authority to transport private school students.
Generally.
A school voucher program involving the use of public money to provide parents of private school children with tuition assistance raises serious and substantial state constitutional questions, most significantly under N.M. Const. art XII § 3, which proscribes the use of public money for the support of private schools, and the antidonation clause of N.M. Const. art IX § 14. 1999 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1999-1.
Applicability.
A waivable fee for NMPIRG does not violate N. M. Const., art. XII, § 3, since § 3 prohibits distribution of state funds for the “support of any sectarian, denominational or private school, college, or university” and NMPIRG does not constitute a school, college or university. 1983-1986 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 143.
Authority to transport private school students.
McKinley county could contract with the Gallup — McKinley county school district for the transportation of students of private, religious schools under the authority of former 22-16-7 NMSA 1978, but only if the county was reimbursed for the costs of such transportation pursuant to a contract. 1989 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1989-2.