Governor Susana Martinez launched her 11th television commercial for her re-election campaign titled, “Courage.”

The ad highlights how Governor Martinez has demonstrated the courage to move New Mexico’s education system forward — standing up to the special interests that have tried desperately to cling to power and maintain the status quo.

“Governor Susana Martinez is moving New Mexico’s education system forward and she is committed to making the improvements to get the job done — even if it means standing up to the union bosses who will do or say anything to stop her. As a result of the governor’s reforms, our graduation rate is now improving faster than any other state in the country, with minority and low-income students seeing the largest gains,” campaign spokesman Chris Sanchez said. “But like the union bosses, Gary King wants to halt the progress we’ve made and take our state back to the days under Bill Richardson. That’s why King supports social promotion, which passes children from one grade to the next, even when they can’t read. We still have a lot of work to do. But we’ve made too much progress to turn back the clock.”

In the commercial, the 2007 Outstanding Educator of the Year, Kathy Sandoval-Snider, speaks directly to New Mexicans, saying that Governor Martinez listens to teachers and principals about what works and has the courage to fight for reforms. Sandoval-Snider heads the AIMS charter school, which was the only charter school in the state to be named as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2013. She credits the school’s teacher evaluation system with helping create that success. That reform is now being implemented at the state level.

Changing the status quo is never easy and part of improving our schools is getting input from those who know the classroom best: our teachers. That’s why at every opportunity, Governor Martinez has met and worked with teachers and principals — to hear directly from them, get their ideas and work together on moving our education system forward. Whether Governor Martinez was requesting more resources for textbooks, making sure dollars went directly into the classroom or creating programs to get more parents involved, many of the reforms are the direct result of listening to teachers and principals and then working to address their concerns.

While unions and the defenders of the status quo have fought reform, Governor Martinez is proud that many of her key reforms have been supported in the legislature by educators. For example, retired teacher Representative Mary Helen Garcia, a Democrat, sponsored a bill to end social promotion each year. Senator Cynthia Nava, a school superintendent, carried the first teacher evaluation bill (SB 502, 2011). Senator Gay Kernan, a former first grade teacher, also carried the social promotion bill.

Martinez concludes her ad by saying, “There’s still more to do. But let’s focus on moving forward, not turning back.”

The commercial will be running statewide on broadcast and cable.