Stuck at the bottom: Why New Mexico fails to thrive

For almost 30 years, New Mexico has maintained an iron grip on the bottom rung of key rankings. Why is it that even when the state makes improvements in education, health care or the economy, we barely budge? Each year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranks the 50 states on issues of child well-being. The report is a widely used measure of children’s health and education, and of the economic and social well-being of families. New Mexico was No. 49 this year, a notch above Mississippi.