Historical Astronomer William Donahue & New Mexico's Homeschool Surge | 7.6.21

New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

William Donahue of St. John’s College in Santa Fe sits down with NMiF senior producer Matt Grubs to talk about receiving the LeRoy Doggett Prize for his work in historical astronomy. The American Astronomical Society recently named Donahue as its winner for his contributions to the field. Donahue talks about why it’s important to study the science of the past, as well as his translations of works by Johannes Kepler and his discovery that some of Kepler’s so-called observations were actually mathematical sleight of hand, working backward from his theory of planetary movement.

The Line opinion panel examines the rise in home school enrollment following a forced year of pandemic learning from home. With New Mexico’s funding model based on enrollment, the trend has implications for public school districts across the state, as well as for the state’s response to the Yazzie-Martinez decision, which said New Mexico hadn’t been providing an equitable education to all students.

The Line opinion panel also weighs in on the implications of encrypted and destroyed official records at the Children, Youth and Families Department. Searchlight New Mexico reports that fired CYFD whistleblowers Cliff and Debra Gilmore recently filed suit against the state after the pair said they were dismissed for raising concerns about the agency’s practice of using the Signal app to hide communications from the public eye. The group also discusses the governor’s response, or lack of one, to the reporting of Searchlight New Mexico.

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