CONCORD, N.H.— Today, Governor Sununu signed HB 1312 into law. AFT-NH President Deb Howes released the following statement:   

“Following the same pattern as the divisive concepts, today Governor Sununu signed HB 1312 into law, a bill that requires 2 weeks’ notice for any discussion anywhere in the curriculum of “sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression.”  These topics show in a wide variety of academic subjects outside of sex ed, including history, economics, literature, art and without clear boundaries and expectations could lead to teachers accidentally violating this law. 

Further, if the intent of this bill is to silence teachers reading books or teaching a lesson that happens to focus on an LGBTQ person, it is discriminatory and harmful to our students, especially to LGBTQ+ students in our classrooms. Anti-LGBTQ politicians in the House and the Senate and Governor Sununu should be ashamed for pushing this hateful and confusing bill that will unquestionably cause more harm than good for our teachers and students.”
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CONCORD, N.H.— Today, Governor Sununu signed HB1205 into law. AFT-NH President Deb Howes released the following statement: 

“All public-school students have a right to access a strong public-school education which includes the right to access after school activities including sports. By signing HB1205, the governor has denied that right and will cost some of our most vulnerable students the opportunity to play on a team which may be where a student finds the most joy during the day. Our students deserved better.” 

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This year, in honor of Sister Linda Horan, the NH AFL-CIO will again award scholarship assistance. Members in good standing of an affiliated local union, their spouses, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, or legal wards are encouraged to apply. A minimum of three scholarships will be awarded: the first for $1,500, the second for $1,000, and the third for $750. Additional prizes may be awarded contingent on the available funding. Click here for the 2024 NH AFL-CIO Linda Horan Scholarship Application

Essays and application forms must be received by the NH AFL-CIO Scholarship Committee no later than 4:00 p.m., FRIDAY, August 9th, 2024, NH AFL-CIO, 161 Londonderry Turnpike, Hooksett, NH 03106.

NOT UNLIKE recent state legislative sessions, this past one saw a lot of crazy education proposals that could have become law if not for some level-headed Republicans who had to draw the line and join Democrats. I guess we know who was really looking out for the kids and local property taxpayers -- and it wasn’t Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut.

Thankfully for our public school students, rational thinking trumped thoughtless adherence to extremist conservative ideology, for the most part. Supporters of public education didn’t get any new legislation to improve schools, but we managed to fight off bills that would have been ruinous for our kids. Supporters of public schools and students will accept that as a victory.

^{Legislative Session Ends on a High Note}

_{This was a good 3 weeks for public education, public school students, parents, and teachers in the State of New Hampshire.  As we talked about in the last update, federal courts struck down the Divisive Concepts law 3 weeks ago. That was followed by the unlicensed part time teacher bill failing because elected officials on the Committee of Conference did not reach an agreement acceptable to all members before the deadline. Then this past week, the House voted to defeat the effort to expand the unaccountable, over-budget, unproven school voucher program. The voted of 185-168 was a strong bipartisan victory for all those who care about public education, opportunity and inclusion for all students, and student achievement.} 

AFT-NH Statement on the Defeat of Voucher Expansion

 CONCORD, N.H. - Statement by AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes on the defeat of HB 1665, the expansion of the school voucher program:

“Today's defeat by the NH House of HB 1665, which would have expanded the state's school voucher program, is a huge victory for all public-school students and local property taxpayers. Every Granite State student has the constitutional right to a robust public education and the state needs to start shouldering its fair share of funding for public school districts. 

The State has a constitutional obligation to fund the robust public education of 165,000 public school students and it MUST meet that obligation! It needs to stop looking for ways to give away tax money to private educational options through vouchers.”