AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin, 2022-04

February 5, 2022 ~ Bow, NH

The Education Committee continued its busy schedule this week-though we were granted a quick reprieve from bills attacking public education because of the snowstorm on Friday. We none-the-less will continue to have busy weeks with the unprecedented amount of bills heard by the House Education Committee this year. 

Education Committee hearings this week.  We want to thank our allies in the legislature this week for putting in bills that demand accountability in the new voucher program both in terms of dollars spent and in student safety. Public money deserves accountability something that is sorely lacking in the voucher program as passed by Republicans in the legislature last year.  In addition, this week HB 1588 was heard,  a bill that says any student who is in a district that requires masks and the parent objects to the student wearing one, must be allowed to transfer out of that district to any other public or private school in the state at the expense of their school district. The student would be eligible for the statewide voucher program, regardless of income level. For a voucher program that is already $8 million over budget this would be a massive, radical expansion just one year into the program.  Importantly, masks are not a punishment for the student and should not be one for the districts. Everyone would prefer to not have masks on all day—teachers included(!) but it can be an important risk mitigation tool and we should not be discouraging them where needed. Most importantly, these decisions are best left up to local school boards, educators, and all the parents and voters of the district, not the legislators in Concord. You can read AFT-NH President Deb Howes’ testimony HERE.

Next week.   Heading into next week we have more bills that need your support. Two repeals of the so-called divisive concepts law are being heard next week. Much like the bills we have seen earlier this year this law passed as part of the budget last summer attempts to intimidate teachers from teaching honest history. The divisive concepts law was left purposefully vague, creating confusion for teachers in the classroom, and with their teacher licenses at stake, has real consequences. As we know the consequences don’t stop with our teachers. Our students need to learn honest, factual history of our country, the times when our nation lived up to our ideals and the times when we fell short, so that they are equipped to deal with the world of today and become the leaders of tomorrow. That is why we brought a lawsuit against the so-called divisive concepts law. We also have the opportunity to support legislative remedies to this unjust law. HB 1090 and  HB 1576 look to repeal that law so teachers can go back to their jobs and students can go back to learning what they need to become well-rounded adults. 

Action Request.   Click below to submit your support of HB 1090 and HB 1576. You will need to sign in separately for each bill. HB 1090 will be heard before the House Education Committee on Tuesday, February 8^th at 10:00 am. HB 1576 will be before House Education on February 8^th at 11:00 am.

SUBMIT YOUR SUPPORT by using the following instructions:

Step 1: Fill in your personal information.

Step 2: Select February 8th

Step 3: Select House Education Committee

Step 4: Select Bill Number (complete once for HB 1090 and again for HB 1576)

Step 5: Select member of the public and you are representing yourself.

Step 6:  Select SUPPORT.

Step 7: Click Submit.

Looking forward   On Feb. 16^th Governor Sununu will give his State of the State address in the morning. If you work in a school, expect to hear nothing about the struggles you are facing daily trying to find enough healthy adults to cover the absences due to COVID or caring for sick family members. Don’t expect to hear anything about the lack of substitute teachers, about paraeducators reassigned from their educationally necessary duties to cover classes, about students warehoused in gyms as large study halls all so schools can stay open for in-person learning, even if there is little teaching that can go on under these circumstances. Our members and our students are suffering because of this! (You can thank Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut and his remote learning rule as well.) In the State of the State, just expect to hear Gov. Sununu pat himself on the back for doing a “good job” managing COVID while keeping the state and the schools open.

Next House Sessions.  The House will be in session on February 16^th at 1 pm and on February 17^th starting at 9:30 am. The last time the House met they put HB 607 on the table—but it can be taken off anytime during these two session days. HB 607 is modeled after the statewide school voucher law passed last year. However, HB 607 may be similar but this voucher bill would allow this to be imposed at the local level and provide that local property taxes raised for education could be given to students to go to a private or religious school, home school, or some other program.  It is hard to overestimate the damage this would do our schools and how quickly we would see our local property taxes skyrocket due to this legislation.

In the last session day in January, Democrats and a group of Republicans stood up to this outrageous bill and stopped it in its tracks. We want to make sure the bill does not advance any further this session and will be working hard to do that.

We will be sending out another bulletin this week for an update on how you can help make sure HB 607 does not become law. 

This is one of the busiest parts of the legislative sessions. The House must finish working on all the bills that started in that chamber in order to send them over to the Senate by the end of March. The Senate must do the same with all the bills that started there. This means we will be asking for your voices multiple times in upcoming weeks. Please continue to check our website at  http://nh.aft.org/ for updates on how we can protect public education, public services, the NH Retirement System, and advance initiatives as we work to continually improve it.

For breaking news and other legislative information, please be sure to like us on Facebook at AFT New Hampshire or follow us on Twitter @AFTNewHampshire to receive the latest news.  Please share this with friends so they can sign up for this bulletin at http://nh.aft.org/.

You can also read written testimony submitted to the legislature at STATE HOUSE NEWS.

NH Retirement Security Coalition   The NHRSC will be tracking all bills related to the NH Retirement System and continuing advocacy for our members.  You can find the legislation tracker following retirement bills by clicking on the following link  NHRSC UPDATES.  AFT-NH is a member of the NH Retirement Security Coalition (NHRSC).

Legislative Schedule for week of February 7, 2022