I am here today to testify in opposition to HB 735.

This bill is a solution in search of a problem. In the Granite State our public sector unions represent the teachers and paraeducators who teach our children, the firefighters who come out in any weather to put out the fire when our house is burning, the police officers who respond when there has been a break in at our homes, the highway department workers who plow, salt or sands the road to make it possible for us to get where we are going, and many others. The point is, these are the people who keep our Granite State communities running. They are friends, neighbors and taxpayers: they live here, and raise families here. They deserve the opportunity to be treated fairly and with respect on the job and way they get that respect is through their unions.

Unions are the only way to level the playing field so that ordinary working people can collectively negotiate a fair bargain with their employer, in this case a town, city, school district or state. And NH voters overwhelmingly support unions and collective bargaining as a way for average working families to get ahead especially in the economy. In fact, a bipartisan RABA Research poll of NH voters completed in the past week found that 90% of Granite State voters believe workers should be able to join a union if they choose and 91% oppose government interference in collective bargaining arrangements. Requiring more frequent automatic recertification votes for already existing unions is government interference in collective bargaining.

I am here today to express our opposition to SB 97.

In an ideal world, parents could ask for assignment of their student to the public school within or outside of their district that best suited their family’s needs and that would be easy request to grant. Also in an ideal world, all public school districts would have sufficient funding from the state so that every school in every district could provide an equally robust public education to all students: one with small class sizes, individualized learning, a rigorous curriculum, academic support and, if needed, behavioral support, all provided by certified, professional and fully trained educators.

We don’t currently have an ideal situation in the Granite State. The State Legislature fails to meet its constitutional duty to Granite State students to fund public schools at a sufficient level. School districts must rely on local property taxpayers for more than 70 percent of their funding so they can meet the learning needs of students. This leads to unequal opportunities between districts. It even leads to unequal opportunities within districts as administrators use grant funding to provide needed supports for student learning and well-being, which sometimes can only be provided in some schools.

I am here today to express our support for HB 550.

This bill increases the base cost of an adequate education and expands the definition the state uses for an adequate education. We think both of these are long overdue steps in the right direction. As you are well aware, every Granite State child has the constitutional right to the opportunity for an adequate public education through their public school district. This opportunity for a public education must be robust enough to prepare the student for the workforce, career, service, further studies and full civic participation in the community after finishing school. 

By increasing the base adequacy aid to $7356.01 from its current $4,182.00 would allow NH school districts to meet the learning needs of students and ease the burden being carried by local property taxpayers. Currently local property taxpayers are providing about 3/4ths of the cost of running our public schools. Since what each community can raise varies widely based on community property wealth, the quality of the public education, which is a constitutional right, also varies widely, and that is not fair to our Granite State children.

Expanding the definition of an adequate education to include the cost of teachers, paraeducators, principals, administrative assistants, custodians, school nurses, school counselors, library-media specialists and the required employment benefits for all that staff reflects realistic costs for running schools with the trained, professional staff needed to meet students’ needs. Actual student teacher ratios must be considered for how they impact the student experience in the classroom rather than as a mathematical average of adults with a certification in a building compared to the number of students in a building. Of course, the cost of maintaining the building so that it is a healthy place for students to learn and staff to work, including heat in the winter and cooling in late spring and early fall is necessary. Transportation is needed so you are not disadvantaging families who do not live a safe walk, or short drive, from the school. And definitely, school funding must keep pace with inflation.

I am here today in support of my Union Brothers, Sisters and Family of the Labor Movement and against HB 238.

Right-to-Work continues to be, and will always be, Wrong for New Hampshire! It is no surprise that once again out of state corporate interests are supporting Right-to-Work here in New Hampshire as they are always trying to limit the power workers have in any workplace. What is surprising is that any New Hampshire lawmakers support this! Simply put, Right-to-Work is government interference in the workplace by putting the state in the middle of the relationship between the private employer and the employees of a private business.

The legislature is back in session and have begun to hear bills including, right off the bat, a bill that would remove the income cap from the school voucher scheme, which would cost the state over $100 million a year according to an estimate from the nonpartisan policy analysis group Reaching Higher New Hampshire. Most of this would be new spending of limited state tax dollars at a time when the state is woefully failing to provide public school districts with the resources they need to support students and their learning.