New Mexico's Public Education Department Secretary of Education Dr. Kurt Steinhaus said he wants to address the inequities in education and has laid out his plan on how to do it at a recent legislative education meeting that included a student panel for input.

While Steinhaus listed his priorities, the students had some of their own.

During the meeting Pojoaque Valley High School student Joshua Wheat said that teachers are not being given emotional support in the classroom by their administrators, according to KRQE.

"I think that takes a toll on them and discourages teachers from continuing to teach or going into the teaching field," Dylan Lincoln, a Santa Fe High School student, added.

Students on the panel also expressed the need for mental support for their peers, especially after extra pressures added by the COVID-19 pandemic such as social isolation and learning loss.

For his part, Steinhuas, who took office in August, said some of his focuses will be pushing the state in academic achievement, new social studies standards, higher average salaries, improving working conditions and lowering education staffing vacancies, according to KRQE.

PED's budget is approximately $17 billion, and it will be asking the state legislature for about $6.6 million more in the next fiscal year, according to Steinhaus' presentation, KRQE reported.