Munger, Tolles & Olson Secures Favorable Ruling for Native American and Underserved Students

Munger, Tolles & Olson and co-counsel Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) secured a favorable ruling for Native American and underserved students following an order by state district court Judge Matthew Wilson for the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) to create a remedial plan to improve its primary and secondary education system.

This latest ruling follows a decade-long legal battle in the Yazzie-Martinez case, where the plaintiffs had successfully argued that the state failed to provide adequate education for Native American and underserved students. The case began in 2014, and in 2018, Judge Sarah Singleton determined that the state was violating students’ constitutional rights by not providing sufficient education. Since then, the PED has been criticized for making only isolated reforms rather than substantial changes.

Despite the PED’s claims of making significant improvements and increasing accountability, Judge Wilson found that the department had not complied with the 2018 ruling. MTO, representing the plaintiffs, argued that the PED had not taken sufficient action to rectify the system, highlighting ongoing disparities in educational outcomes for minority students. New Mexico remains ranked among the worst states for educational outcomes, with recent reports showing that Black, Native American and Hispanic students continue to lag behind state averages in reading, math and science proficiency.

The MTO team includes Rosio Arriaga and E. Martin Estrada, who handled the landmark trial in 2018.