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Game over for middle school athletics in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Athletics are losing out in the competition for limited dollars as one of the nation's largest school districts prepares for an anticipated 2 percent cut in state funding. Albuquerque Public Schools announced Thursday it's dropping its middle-school athletics program because of anticipated funding cuts linked to New Mexico's state budget crisis. School district spokeswoman Monica Armenta said eliminating after-school intermural volleyball, basketball, and track and field will save up to $750,000 next school year and help avoid classroom cuts. Teachers would lose coaching stipends and short-term coaching contracts would be eliminated. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the Democrat-led Legislature are locked in a standoff over how to fill a $156 million budget shortfall and protect the state's credit rating.