Education Funding and Vouchers are on the Docket
While 165,000 public school students wait for the State of NH to fulfil its constitutional obligation to fund an adequate public education in a fair manner no matter where a student lives in the Granite State, the NH Senate continues working on the state budget.
School Funding Back in the Spotlight This week as the Senate Finance Committee brought an amendment to the budget that once again changes the funding formula. The Senate formula increases per pupil adequacy aid a little, increases aid based on free and reduced lunch and to towns with low property tax bases. It is an improvement from the current funding formula but falls short of the formula the House passed last month. The senate is not done yet—an amendment will be brought to increase the so-called “hold harmless” money for cities and towns so no community in New Hampshire will receive less than they currently do.
Here is what we do know about school funding—as the State struggles to properly fund our neighborhood public schools the state is poised to dramatically increase funding for New Hampshire’s school voucher program. The Senate Finance Committee still hasn’t taken action on HB 367 which raises the cap on the voucher program from 300% to 350%. This change may seem small but this makes a family of 4 earning $105,000 a year eligible for a taxpayer funded state education voucher to spend on private school, homeschooling or any other education related expense they choose. Most students using state education vouchers were already in private schools or being homeschooled so they were not costing taxpayers anything. According to Reaching Higher New Hampshire, expanding this program to 350% of the poverty level will cost $48 million dollars each year.
New Hampshire has a constitutional duty to provide an adequate public education and while our commissioner may not be able to define what that means, we know that the state is currently failing at achieving that goal and failing to make sure our students have what they need to learn and thrive in their public schools, and local property taxpayers are left footing the bill. Now instead of using this budget cycle to work to increase funding and move the state towards funding an adequate public education, we could see more funding for a voucher program that is already over budget and has not proven to be an effective educational tool in New Hampshire.
ACTION REQUEST There’s still time to take action on the voucher expansion bills. If you haven’t already done so, please take a few minutes between now and Tuesday to contact the Senate Finance Committee.
Please tell them to:
- Focus on supporting the learning needs of our 165,000 public school students and strengthening public school funding.
- NO to the school voucher expansion in HB367!
- $48 million a year is far too much money to spend on a program with no accountability, especially when all our public school students are STILL WAITING.
The full Senate is not scheduled to vote on the full budget or voucher expansion until June 7th, and we will keep you updated here with further information or actions that are needed.
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You can also read written testimony submitted to the legislature at STATE HOUSE NEWS.
Upcoming Legislative Hearings
Date/Time | Bill | Description | Sponsors | Location |
Tue 5/30 10:00 AM | SB 136 | Prohibiting The Employment or Volunteering Of A Revoked or Suspended Educator. | Sen. Ruth Ward | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 10:15 AM | SB 136 | Prohibiting The Employment or Volunteering Of A Revoked or Suspended Educator. | Sen. Ruth Ward | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 10:30 AM | SB 136 | Prohibiting The Employment or Volunteering Of A Revoked or Suspended Educator. | Sen. Ruth Ward | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 10:45 AM | SB 136 | Prohibiting The Employment or Volunteering Of A Revoked or Suspended Educator. | Sen. Ruth Ward | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 10:45 AM | SB 213 | Relative to Educational Institution Policies On Social Media. | Sen. David Watters | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | SB 218 | Establishing An Early Educator Professional Development Grant. | Sen. Donovan Fenton | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 627 | Relative to Local Education Improvement Plans and Disparities In Education. | Rep. Alicia Lekas | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 505 | Relative to Comprehensive Mental Health Education In Schools. | Rep. Jodi Newell | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | SB 25 | Repealing A Requirement For A Report On Chartered Public School Payments. | Sen. Ruth Ward | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 625 | Relative to The Calculation Of Average Daily Membership In Attendance and Average Daily Membership In Residence For School Districts. | Rep. Glenn Cordelli | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | SB 151 | Relative to Mental Health Education. | Sen. David Watters | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 651 | Authorizing The Department Of Education and Local School Districts to Contract with Transportation Network Companies to Provide School Transportation Services. | Rep. Glenn Cordelli | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 623 | Establishing A Teacher Candidate Loan Forgiveness Program. | Rep. Mel Myler | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 628 | Requiring Certain Non-public Schools or Education Service Providers That Accept Public Funds to Perform Background Checks On All Employees and Volunteers. | Rep. Linda Tanner | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 637 | Relative to The Calculation Of Average Daily Membership In Attendance For Certain Home Educated Pupils. | Rep. Deborah Hobson | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 439 | Relative to The Duty to Provide An Education and Contracts with Private Schools. | Rep. Glenn Cordelli | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 147 | Relative to Membership Of The Advisory Committee On The Education Of Students with Disabilities. | Rep. Katelyn Kuttab | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 155 | Relative to The Division Of Educator Support and Higher Education and Relative to Surety Indemnification For Private Postsecondary Career Schools. | Rep. Michael Moffett | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 553 | Relative to School District Information On Personnel Salaries. | Rep. Glenn Cordelli | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 437 | Relative to A Reading Assessment and Intervention Program. | Rep. Glenn Cordelli | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 354 | Relative to Chartered Public School Eligibility For State School Building Aid. | Rep. Maureen Mooney | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 267 | Relative to Criminal Records Checks In School Employment. | Rep. Joe Alexander | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Tue 5/30 1:00 PM | HB 352 | Relative to Excused Absences Due to A Student's Mental or Behavioral Health. | Rep. Joe Alexander | LOB 205-207 (Education/H) |
Wed 6/7 10:00 AM | HB 533 | Relative to Public School Human Rights Complaints. | Rep. Glenn Cordelli | LOB 206-208 (Judiciary/H) |
Wed 6/7 10:00 AM | HB 362 | Relative to Complaint Procedures In Cases Before The Commission For Human Rights. | Rep. Mark McLean | LOB 206-208 (Judiciary/H) |