New Mexico’s Cuoy Griffin, outspoken ex-leader of Cowboys for Trump and an indicted participant in the January 6 attack on the nation’s capitol, reports that he has had a change of heart. “I may have been a useful idiot,” he admits of his former allegiance to the 47th President, who between foreign wars and Epstein scandals has cured this cowpoke of his previous infatuation.
How many other MAGA types are useful idiots? States that swung heavily toward Trump in the popular vote in 2024, awarding him more than sixty percent of the ballots cast, included Alabama and Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming, Louisiana and Kentucky. Most are states with failing educational systems that rank near the bottom of the barrel on test scores that measure reading and math proficiency. In contrast, states that went heavily for Harris in that election include Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont, all in the upper tiers for graduation rates and student performance.
The correlation is not perfect. Washington, D.C., one of the worst school districts in the country, voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Florida frequently ranks among the top ten on the Nation’s Report Card yet nonetheless awarded Donald Trump 56% of its popular vote. Still there is a pattern. Yes, there are plenty of smart Republicans and dumb-as-a-rock Democrats. But stupid states went overwhelmingly for Trump.
Which brings us to New Mexico. Our state is consistently dead last when it comes to education, often trailing even Mississippi. For complicated historical reasons, the Land of Enchantment currently votes blue, but how long can it last? Because we know that democracy depends on an educated citizenry.
That’s why Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia (one of three accomplishments he considered worth listing on his tombstone). It’s why Ben Franklin is credited with establishing the first free public libraries. It’s why George Washington, in his will, left large sums to fund schools for orphan children and in his farewell address urged his countrymen-and-women to “promote as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge."
By the yardsticks that measure literacy and critical thinking, New Mexico is failing its children and our nation despite spending above the national average on K-12 education per student.
What can be done to prepare our kids to be the thoughtful and informed citizens America needs for tomorrow? Think New Mexico has been studying the problem and making recommendations that have been implemented by the legislature, including all day kindergarten and more instructional hours in the school year. Yet so far steps like these haven’t moved the needle.
For insights and solutions, Indivisible Santa Fe Radio interviewed Fred Nathan, Jr. of Think New Mexico this past week, who points to the tiny border town of Texico, New Mexico—where students are excelling—for some surprising answers.
