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Local School Voucher Bill Recommended by House Education Committee Just when we thought it might to safe to take a deep breath, late in the night this past Wednesday the legislature—cheered on as always by our anti-education commissioner, continued their radical push to defund public education. House Bill 607 as amended contains a sweeping amendment that was passed Wednesday. This bill would allow for our public property tax dollars to be sent to private schools, religious schools, or to students who are homeschooled. As we know in New Hampshire because the State refuses to adequately fund education most of the money that goes towards our neighborhood public schools comes from our local property taxes. Unlike the voucher bill that passed last year that would take the state portion of money that is supposed to be spent on public education; this bill takes our local property tax money. MORE
AFT-NH: Edelblut Is Encouraging Parent Complaints About Teaching ‘Divisive Concepts’ AFT-NH Calls on Governor to Demand State Education Commissioner Step Down CONCORD, N.H.—Statement by AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes on state Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut’s webpage for parents to file complaints against teachers who allegedly teach lessons that discriminate, under the Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education law: “It was bad enough that the law tried to find a problem that doesn’t exist—no teacher in New Hampshire teaches that any group is inherently superior or inferior to another. That false flag has now been made worse with Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut launching a webpage to encourage parents to file complaints against teachers who allegedly teach so-called divisive concepts. Totally innocent teachers could lose their teaching license over claims that are not backed up by any evidence. Edelblut has declared a war on teachers, a war that the overwhelming majority of N.H. parents will find repulsive. “AFT-NH calls on Gov. Chris Sununu to demand that Edelblut step down over his outrageous, obviously politically motivated, harmful effort. MORE
We write to you today to urge adopting strict rules around the so-called education freedom accounts to ensure that taxpayer money used for this program is actually spent to further a student’s education and not just to line the pockets of the scholarship organization or to be used for things that would not otherwise qualify as an educational expense. MORE
CONCORD, N.H.— Yesterday the Justice Department announced that it will create specialized training and guidance for local school boards and school administrators. This training will “help school board members and other potential victims understand the type of behavior that constitutes threats, how to report threatening conduct to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and how to capture and preserve evidence of threatening conduct to aid in the investigation and prosecution of these crimes.” MORE

Want In-School Learning to Last? Wear Masks and Get Vaccinated by AFT-NH President Deb Howes

There was near-universal consensus that virtual learning or a hybrid of in-school and remote learning was chaotic and suboptimal, at best. Some kids had trouble accessing classes online, many others had trouble concentrating on lessons for hours on the computer, while other students simply gave up and basically lost a year of learning. We really don’t want to go back to those bad old days.

 

 

Concord, NH --- AFT-NH President Deb Howes Released the Following Statement on Approval of Rules for School Voucher Program

"Today's rules committee meeting in Concord raised more questions than it answered, but disappointingly the Joint Legislative Committee let the temporary rules on school vouchers move forward despite questions about conflicts with existing laws on student safety, and data privacy as well as the inadequate examination of the fiscal impact of the program. Frank Edelblut and the Republican-led legislature continue to turn a blind eye to the real issues this program raises

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