The full NH House will vote on two School Voucher expansion bills this Thursday, March 9th. We need your help to make sure our legislators understand the out-of-control voucher program should not be expanded in any way. The two bills which would expand the current voucher program are HB 464 and HB 367. Legislators have a constitutional obligation to the 165,000 public school students to make sure that each and every one of them has a fully staffed, well-resourced neighborhood public school. Currently, the NH voucher program allows state education aid to be spent on private school tuition, homeschooling expenses, enrichment classes, extracurricular activities and other educational expenses. The private scholarship organization that runs the voucher program keeps 10% of the tax money spent in the program and there is no independent financial or academic accountability. Of the 3200 students currently receiving vouchers, more than 85% were already in private schools or being home schooled. Currently the program is capped at families with incomes 300% of the poverty level.  MORE

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My name is Debrah Howes. I am the president of the American Federation of Teachers-NH. AFT-NH represents 4,000 teachers, paraeducators and school support staff, public employees, and higher education faculty across New Hampshire. My members work with approximately 29,000 of the 165,000 public school students in New Hampshire in one way or another as well as thousands of university students. We are residents and taxpayers in the Granite State. I am writing today in support of HB 451, relative to the state board of education prohibition on discrimination. This bill would update the necessary guardrails that protect students from unlawful discrimination in admissions and access to any publicly funded educational programs and activities. State law already prohibits such discrimination in public schools, of course. This bill specifically adds language prohibiting discrimination by any entity receiving state or federal funding—including private schools, online programs, or educational vendors that use voucher funds. That’s important, because in recent years, our state legislature has passed bills creating one of the nation’s most expansive, costly, and unaccountable voucher programs. We need to ensure that these programs don’t allow discrimination on the taxpayers’ dime. MORE

For most of our members who work in public schools you have made it to winter break. Hopefully whether your break was this week or is next, you find some time to relax and recharge. The legislature is also taking a break next week with most committees not meeting next week and the full House and Senate are taking a breather as well. While the legislature is taking a break, it also means when it comes back activity will happen at a rapid pace. This week we have seen two dramatic voucher expansion bills. One bill that would eliminate the income requirement so anyone, no matter how much money they make, could take a voucher and have taxpayers subsidize private school tuition, gymnastics, music lessons, summer camp or any other “educational” expense. Another bill that would create a local voucher program which would require localities who opt in to pay out approximately $10,000 from local property taxes that fund the local neighborhood public schools for every person who takes a voucher. This could bankrupt many school districts and lead to barebones programs at your neighborhood public school and higher property taxes. When the legislature returns from the break, the House Education committee will vote on both of these bills. MORE

My name is Debrah Howes. I am the president of the American Federation of Teachers-NH. AFT-NH represents 4,000 teachers, paraeducators and school support staff, public service employees and higher education faculty across New Hampshire. My members work with approximately 29,000 of the 165,000 public school students in New Hampshire in one way or another as well as thousands of university students. We are residents and taxpayers in the Granite State. I am writing today in opposition to HB 538, relative to establishing a local education freedom account program. HB 538 would create a local voucher program that could easily decimate our local neighborhood public schools and rapidly increase already burdensome property taxes across New Hampshire. The new program will further impoverish our neighborhood public schools, leaving our students with only a threadbare education. As school districts struggle to cover costs, we’ll see massive cuts: Music, art, student learning support from paraeducators, library, transportation, and sports would all be on the chopping block as local communities struggle to keep up with cutbacks necessitated by having to fund two systems of education. The NH Constitution places a duty on the state to provide and fund a public education for all Granite State children. This bill would oblige local taxpayers to pick up the tab for a second system of education based on families’ individual choices. Since there is only so much money you can wring out of local taxpayers, the creation of this second system of education would lead to cutbacks in the constitutionally required public education system. MORE

My name is Debrah Howes. I am the president of the American Federation of Teachers-NH. AFT-NH represents 4,000 teachers, paraeducators and school support staff, public service employees and higher education faculty across New Hampshire. My members work with approximately 29,000 of the 165,000 public school students in New Hampshire in one way or another as well as thousands of university students. We are residents and taxpayers in the Granite State. As such, I can unreservedly say we oppose HB 331, which would eliminate any income threshold for a family to be eligible for a school voucher. By removing the income threshold HB 331 would create additional liability on the state of New Hampshire to fund whatever educational choices a parent wants without any regard for the taxpayers’ ability to pay. The state has long recognized its duty to provide a public education, so much so that it is enshrined in our state’s constitution. The original voucher program put taxpayers on the hook for parents’ educational choices, other than the public schools, for families below a certain income level. There are legal arguments why the original program was incorrect and a bad idea. Eliminating any income threshold just increases the state’s liability does nothing to address the legal shakiness of the program.   MORE