March 19, 2022 ~ Bow, NH We are now through the busiest part of the legislative season. While “crossover” is technically not for another two weeks the majority of the bills that were voted “ought to pass” in the House are now on their way to the Senate. Senate bills are also making their way over to the House. There are still bills that we will need action on in the coming weeks, but we want to take a minute to celebrate some victories. Victories! This week we saw HB1255, “Relative to Teacher’s Loyalty” sent to the trash bin of history where it belongs. HB1671, a bill that started as an extreme attempt by Commissioner Edelblut to destroy public education, transformed into a bill that would strengthen education and was passed by the House. We also saw the House table HB1072 which would have allowed School Board members unfettered access to personnel files, student records, and to our school facilities.  These bills were victories for public education, but predictably it was not all good news this week. MORE

March 12, 2022 ~ Bow, NH We are now into one of the busiest times for the legislative session. “Crossover” is the time when all House bills need to make their way to the Senate and Senate bills need to make their way over to the House. The deadline for this to happen is March 31st and with that date fast approaching the House is scheduled to meet for 3 days next week on the 15th, 16th, and 17th, and the Senate is scheduled to meet on the 17th.  The House alone will have to vote on an astounding 212 bills over 3 days. Due to the looming deadlines, House Education has finished its work on all of its House bills deciding what to do with all 103 bills that came to the committee this year.  MORE

AFT-NH Statement by President Deb Howes Town Election Results Show Voters Support Their Public Schools: Recent House Education Committee Action Echoes Public’s Pro-Public School Stance                                           CONCORD, N.H.—Tuesday’s town elections across the state, which saw pro-public education school board candidates victorious and most educator union contracts approved with significant raises, vividly show that New Hampshire voters overwhelmingly support their public schools, said American Federation of Teachers-NH President Deb Howes. “No matter how you look at the results, it’s clear that voters want their public schools and educators respected and funded. The election results confirm that the anti-public school forces can’t pit teachers against the community,” Howes said. “The public is sick of negative, divisive attacks on public schools and want a laser focus on giving our kids the schools they deserve.” MORE

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March 5, 2022 ~ Bow, NH March is shaping up to be very busy with scheduled House sessions and committees working to make final recommendations on outstanding bills. The full House will meet this week on Thursday, March 10th. The other tentative dates for the next House sessions are March 15, 16, 17, and 31st. There are no bills from the House Education committee being voted on by the House on March 10th. Action Needed (HB 1393-local school budget cap) However, there is an important bill to be considered by the full House in the near future. This bill has been recommended Ought to Pass by a 10-9 vote in the Municipal and County Government committee. HB 1393 would adversely affect local school districts by allowing local school districts to adopt a budget cap with a formula that is primarily based on average daily attendance of pupils. Such a formula would not take into account actual costs in the school district such as transportation contracts, fuel, or even out-of-district costs for special education. This would leave districts with a budget that could not even meet the basic needs of the district. Action Request   Please contact your legislator by clicking the following link: Defeat HB 1393 MORE

February 27, 2022 ~ Bow, NH We will start with the biggest news from the legislature this week; the next time the New Hampshire House of Representatives meets it will be back in Representatives Hall. Up until now the House had been meeting in other venues due to safety concerns. But now, even though many in the House are older or immunocompromised, the Speaker has decided safety is no longer a top concern. The timing strikes us as more than just a little coincidental. Last week Republicans in the House lost a few close and key votes and won other votes after the Speaker had to break the tie. Now in what appears to be a pretty obvious attempt to keep Democrats home who would still rather not sit within coughing distance (and sometimes closer than that) of other people who won’t be wearing masks and may not be vaccinated. MORE