Press

CONCORD, NH—The following is a statement by AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes on two universal voucher bills that passed today in the House and Senate and a House bill that imposes a cap on local budgets for school districts:

“In their twisted priorities, an out-of-touch majority of anti-public education extremists in New Hampshire have decided that the rich need help to send their kids to private school and once again showed their utter contempt for adequate funding for public schools, the support our students need or the burden this places on local property taxpayers. The universal voucher bills are ludicrous because they allow the well-to-do—even if they already send their kids to private school—to use a state-funded voucher to pay for private education. This is a gift to the wealthy and puts public education on a death watch.

AFT-New Hampshire Praises NH House for Voting Down ‘Right-to-Work’ Bill

CONCORD, N.H.—The following is a statement from AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes on the state House of Representatives’ vote opposing a “right-to-work” bill, HB 238-FN, which would prohibit collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to join or contribute fair share fees to a labor union:

“We are grateful the New Hampshire House once again rejected a so-called right-to-work bill, recognizing it as the union-busting scam that it is. A bipartisan coalition of commonsense legislators stood with the overwhelming majority of Granite Staters to support workers’ rights. Membership in a labor union provides workers with what they need, including better wages and working conditions, lower risk of workplace injuries and deaths, and health insurance. Unions representing educators, for example, are able to negotiate decent wages and working conditions so that students have what they need to excel.”

CONCORD, N.H.— Today, the New Hampshire State Board of Education pushed forward their final proposal for the first part of the Minimum Standards for Public School Approval, otherwise known as the “306 Rules,” subject to edits made to the document during the meeting.

The next step for the 306 rules is a review by the Joint Legislative Committee on Rules on September 10.   

After the vote, public education leaders released the following statements:

“Public schools are the great equalizer - and the 306 Rules are intended to hold our state to that. Educators fought for a seat at the table in the public school standards revision process to share our experience and expertise. Unfortunately, not all of our concerns have been addressed, especially regarding class sizes and curriculum. As the 306 Rules revision process continues, public education leaders will continue to hold lawmakers accountable and work to ensure New Hampshire maintains strong standards for strong public schools because our students deserve it,” said Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire. 

“It is really problematic that our State Board is attempting to vastly reshape public education through rulemaking in ways they couldn't get lawmakers to do over the past two years,” said Deb Howes, President of AFT-New Hampshire. "If these rules are adopted as passed today, students could face larger class sizes, fewer course offerings and fewer qualified educators to help them learn and thrive. The State Board has already been alerted that this rules proposal conflicts with existing state law in many ways. They should have taken more time and carefully considered the mountain of feedback they have already received from Granite Staters who value robust public schools for all before plowing ahead and voting to approve this proposal.” 

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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“The court agreed that the law unconstitutionally restricted what teachers can teach. This decision should put to rest the issue, and New Hampshire teachers will no longer have to live under a cloud of fear of getting fired for actually teaching accurate, honest education.”

For Immediate Release                                                                                                                       

CONCORD, N.H.—The following is a statement by AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes on HB 1298, allowing uncertified teachers with no college education to be part-time public school teachers, and HB 1665, which expands the state’s voucher program by increasing the funding eligibility cap from 350 percent of the federal poverty level to 400 percent. Both bills passed the Senate on Wednesday and head back to the House for a concurrence vote, an agreement to create a “committee of conference” to work out differences or a defeat through refusing to do either.

The heart of our schools are our teachers.

What makes Granite State teachers so special is their commitment to the success of every student. Student needs are at the center of everything teachers do, inside and outside of the classroom.

New Hampshire is in the midst of a mental health crisis; while the causes are complex and varied, we know this crisis is hitting our children the hardest. The teachers at Timberlane Regional High School recognized this issue and took action. Outside of their work hours, and for no extra pay, two teachers organized a Mental Health Awareness Week. Students and parents were invited to attend a series of events together that sought to overcome the stigma that often accompanies mental health issues. These teachers, and all of our teachers, recognize that schools operate best when students are supported by parents and teachers.

I’m here today because the bottom line is simple and the reality is clear. President

Biden defends public education. Donald Trump attacks it. President Biden supports our

educators. Donald Trump supports billionaires.

As President Biden said in his State of the Union address, in order to remain the

strongest economy in the world, we need to have the best education system in the

world. That’s why he’s investing in educators after Donald Trump left them behind.

President Biden invested $170 billion in K-12 schools – the single largest-ever

investment in education funding. Here are some examples of how that helped!

• This investment has allowed us to hire more certified teachers to help students catch up in reading and math. In fact, state test results from last year showed that NH is leading the country in getting student achievement back to where it should be after the disruptions of the COVID pandemic.
• It has allowed negotiated salary increases to retain experienced, certified public school teachers and paraeducators – a very difficult thing to do in this time of educator shortages.
• Pres. Biden’s Infrastructure Law expanded rural broadband – which in a state like NH helps many of our students as well as our staff. It is so much harder for students to do their homework or teachers to do their lesson planning if they have to go to the nearest fast food restaurant to use their wifi.