State House News

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.

Now is not the time to expand NH school vouchers to universal eligibility. If anything, it is time to provide greater oversight of the current spending and efficacy of the program. And it certainly is time to look carefully at the NH Legislature finally meeting its constitutional obligation to fully fund our public district schools so that students in every district can have smaller class sizes; lots of individualized attention to tailor learning to students’ needs and interests; and art, music and outdoor learning, which are known to enhance kids’ imagination and even a desire to come to school. This is what would prepare Granite State children for the workforce, higher education and civic participation in their communities. 

^{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.} 

 Court Rejects Divisive Concepts Law and Legislative Session Enters Final Weeks

A HUGE VICTORY for public school students and teachers this week as the federal district court ruled in favor of AFT-NH and other plaintiffs in the so-called divisive concepts case. The law that was passed as part of the state budget in 2021 was aimed at preventing teachers from teaching honest history to Granite State students. It was pushed by anti-education politicians and our anti-public education commissioner, Frank Edelblut, a partisan political appointee who is answerable only to the governor.

Tell Governor Sununu to Veto HB 1312

If Gov. Sununu signs HB 1312, teachers need to get ready to send home parental notices about almost every literature, history, social studies, art and music lesson.

This week the New Hampshire Senate voted to pass HB 1312 expanding parental notification requirements through a law originally written for parents who wanted to opt their students out of sexual education classes. HB 1312 is a vaguely written bill that expands the two week opt out notice from topics that include human sexuality and human sexual education to also include any curriculum, program, or course materials that includes mention of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression in any class.

Don’t Weaken Our Public Schools

Defeat Expansion of School Vouchers and Uncertified Part-Time Teachers

Breathtaking hypocrisy in the Senate Education Committee this week as moments after Senator Tim Lang said that the State of New Hampshire did not have enough money in the Education Trust Fund to invest in helping students with special education needs get better supports in their public schools and lowering the burden on local property taxpayers, he introduced an amendment that would raise the income level on the over budget, unproven school voucher program from 350% of the federal poverty level to 400%.  

HB 1311, also known as the Freedom to Read bill, strikes the right balance in recognizing the needs, interests and responsibilities of students, families, and schools when it comes to school libraries. It requires that all school boards adopt clear policies for their district on how they build their library collections and on what steps to take if a parent or guardian feels  there is material in the collection that doesn’t belong there or is accessible to the wrong age level. This is the right balance, respecting the rights and interests of all involved.

Great News - Teacher Spy Bill (HB 341) Defeated

An important victory this week! SB 341— the bill that would have made teachers spy on all their students, make note of everything they said, did or wore to school in case a parent asked about it later; a bill that would distract teachers from teaching and students from learning, was defeated. A bi-partisan group of pro-education, pro-student, pro-parent, and pro-teacher legislators came together to defeat this legislation for the third year in a row. We are thankful for them and thankful for you, for all of your work to make sure your legislators knew to vote against this bill.

As the House and Senate finish up their business, there are couple of bills we are left tracking:

I am here to speak on behalf of our 3700 members across the state, as well as the students, families, and communities we serve. Our members include preK through 12 public school educators and support staff, university faculty as well as town employees. I am here today to testify in support of HB 1583 relative to the per pupil cost of the opportunity for an adequate education.

Every Granite State child has a constitutional right to the opportunity for a robust public education through our local neighborhood public schools no matter where they live in the state. Whether families choose to enroll in the local neighborhood public schools for their children’s education, or choose private school, homeschooling, or a charter school, it is the child’s constitutional right to have that opportunity for a robust public education and the state’s constitutional duty to fund it. In fact, our Granite State students have a right to more than just a barebones public education, as a series of court cases have clarified over the past  three decades. They have a right to a public education that prepares them for college, entering the workforce, joining an apprenticeship program or the service and to become productive citizens of their communities and our state, or wherever their goals and dreams take them after high school.