SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico education chief Hanna Skandera has overruled the state Public Education Commission and will allow a new all-online charter school to open in the fall.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the school will be called New Mexico Connections Academy and will contract with the online, for-profit curriculum company Connections Academy. The school aims to serve students in grades K-12 from around the state.
Skandera's decision Wednesday came as a national nonprofit, In the Public Interest, released thousands of emails between former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's education foundation and policymakers in several states, including New Mexico.
Connections Academy is one of several online education companies that donates money to Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education, an organization Skandera turns to for advice on reform initiatives.
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