State House News

AFT-NH Testimony in Opposition to HB 1132

AFT-NH opposes HB 1132 because it harms students by interfering with the ability of public school school staff to create warm, welcoming school communities that acknowledge all students and their families. Schools are not just places of instruction. They are places where all children need to feel safe, seen, and respected. Visual symbols such as flags and banners have meaning to students, to families and to communities: whether they are for pro-sports teams, states, countries, causes or beliefs. Limiting which students and families can be recognized and how sends the not so subtle signal that some are not welcome in our public schools.

We are deeply concerned about SB 434. Although the bill appears to simply require school districts to adopt a policy and procedures for reconsidering library and instructional materials, its practical impact would be far broader and more harmful. As written, SB 434 threatens students’ access to information, undermines teachers’ professional judgment, and exposes school districts to legal risk, all while diverting time and resources away from teaching and learning.

On behalf of our members, the public-school students and communities we serve, AFT–New Hampshire opposes SB 101, even with the amendment discussed on March 25. While the amendment changes how open enrollment would be funded, it does not change the fundamental impact of the bill. Mandatory open enrollment still threatens equal educational opportunity, undermines local public schools, and diverts scarce resources away from the students and communities who rely on them most.

Open Enrollment. The House Education Policy and Administration Committee concluded the second day of public hearings on SB 101, Open Enrollment, and again encountered overwhelming opposition to the bill. After two days of testimony, only ten people spoke in favor of the bill. Opposition dominated the hearings. School board members, administrators, teachers, special education advocates, local property taxpayers, and many others expressed serious concerns about the proposed bill and amendment and the havoc which would result in our local schools.

SB 578 is a well-intentioned bill. It reflects a broad agreement that students, especially the youngest learners, need movement, play, and time to reset in order to learn. Educators support those goals and support the well-being of public-school students. However, SB 578 goes beyond encouraging good educational practices we can all agree on. Instead, it imposes new mandates without providing the resources needed to implement them effectively or even responsibly.

SB 101 OPEN ENROLLMENT HEARING RESUMES ON APRIL 1^ST

Open enrollment continues to dominate the education space in the State House with a new amendment and scheme introduced this week. Basically, instead of using local property taxpayers to directly pay for a student to attend a public school in a different district, the amendment provides open enrollment students with twice the state adequacy aid than is received for students enrolled in their own school district. The state is now offering to pay twice the adequacy amount if you want to attend a charter or if you want to go to a different public

Open Enrollment Scheduled for a Public Hearing

Action Needed

Open enrollment is back. Next Week Senate Bill 101 will be heard in the House Education Committee. A quick recap of where we stand on Open Enrollment. Back in January, the Senate attached open enrollment to an unrelated bill HB 751 with the intent on ramming it through the legislature and quickly getting it to the Governor.

The rush was to pass a statewide open enrollment law before voters at annual school district meetings had their say on whether they wanted to pay for any student who decided to transfer to another public school

Huge Victory for Public Employees’ Union Rights and Collective Bargaining

It was a great victory for our members and public employees across the state when the NH House defeated HB 1704 this week. The bill is dead for the rest of this legislative session. But let’s remember this in November. This bill was poised to significantly weaken the rights of teachers, school staff, and other municipal employees to negotiate for strong contracts and have a meaningful voice in the workplace. A big thank you to the hundreds of you who contacted your state representatives and help prevent this bill from

Public Employee Union Rights Scheduled for a Vote – ACTION Needed

Next week will be a big week for public education on the House floor. The union-busting HB 1704 will finally be voted along with a large number of other significant bills. Our two significant priority bills requiring action are listed below. Please take a moment to weigh in on these requested actions.

Town Meeting Day - VOTE

Tuesday is an important day for schools across our state. AFT-NH local members have spent months negotiating collective bargaining agreements which will be presented to the voters. Please refer to our AFT-NH

Significant Committee Action Next Week

This Sunday we set the clocks forward to spring ahead. Let’s take those extra minutes of sunshine to keep a watchful eye on the NH Legislature as they resume activity after the February break.

All bills that need only be considered by one committee are due out next week which means we will be seeing a lot of votes from committees on bills that we care about. This week we will share the list of bills to get a vote in the executive session; these bills will not require your action yet but we will share for ongoing awareness.

Last week, there were hearings on

State House News

AFT-NH Testimony in Opposition to HB 1132

AFT-NH Testimony in Opposition to SB 434

AFT-NH Testimony in Opposition to SB 101

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (April 6, 2026)

AFT-NH Testimony in Opposition to SB 578

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (March 27, 2026)

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (March 21, 2026) Action Needed on Open Enrollment

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (March 13, 2026)

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (March 6, 2026) ACTION NEEDED

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (February 27, 2026)