State House News

I am here today to express our support for HB 550.

This bill increases the base cost of an adequate education and expands the definition the state uses for an adequate education. We think both of these are long overdue steps in the right direction. As you are well aware, every Granite State child has the constitutional right to the opportunity for an adequate public education through their public school district. This opportunity for a public education must be robust enough to prepare the student for the workforce, career, service, further studies and full civic participation in the community after finishing school. 

By increasing the base adequacy aid to $7356.01 from its current $4,182.00 would allow NH school districts to meet the learning needs of students and ease the burden being carried by local property taxpayers. Currently local property taxpayers are providing about 3/4ths of the cost of running our public schools. Since what each community can raise varies widely based on community property wealth, the quality of the public education, which is a constitutional right, also varies widely, and that is not fair to our Granite State children.

Expanding the definition of an adequate education to include the cost of teachers, paraeducators, principals, administrative assistants, custodians, school nurses, school counselors, library-media specialists and the required employment benefits for all that staff reflects realistic costs for running schools with the trained, professional staff needed to meet students’ needs. Actual student teacher ratios must be considered for how they impact the student experience in the classroom rather than as a mathematical average of adults with a certification in a building compared to the number of students in a building. Of course, the cost of maintaining the building so that it is a healthy place for students to learn and staff to work, including heat in the winter and cooling in late spring and early fall is necessary. Transportation is needed so you are not disadvantaging families who do not live a safe walk, or short drive, from the school. And definitely, school funding must keep pace with inflation.

I am here today in support of my Union Brothers, Sisters and Family of the Labor Movement and against HB 238.

Right-to-Work continues to be, and will always be, Wrong for New Hampshire! It is no surprise that once again out of state corporate interests are supporting Right-to-Work here in New Hampshire as they are always trying to limit the power workers have in any workplace. What is surprising is that any New Hampshire lawmakers support this! Simply put, Right-to-Work is government interference in the workplace by putting the state in the middle of the relationship between the private employer and the employees of a private business.

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.