New Mexico Statutes Chapter 21. State and Private Education Institutions § 21-21P-2. Definitions

A. “department” means the higher education department;

B. “public school” includes constitutional special schools and state institutions and state agencies that educate children;

C. “school employee” means a resident of New Mexico who is authorized to work in the United States and who has been employed by a public school in a position that works directly with students for at least two years and is in good standing with the school district and who is enrolled in or accepted by an undergraduate teacher preparation program at a regionally accredited public post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico; and

D. “teacher preparation program” means a program that has been formally approved as meeting the requirements of the public education department and that leads to level one teacher licensure, including a program in a two-year post-secondary educational institution that meets the requirements for a teacher education transfer module established pursuant to Subsection C of Section 21-1B-4 NMSA 1978.