AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin (2024-03) Action Needed

Local School Voucher Bill to Be Heard

Action Needed

Week in Review   This week the House Education Committee heard four separate school voucher bills. Three of those bills equated to universal voucher programs meaning that anyone of any income level could access the voucher program. What does this mean in practice? According to analysis by Reaching Higher New Hampshire at Reaching Higher NH  Universal Voucher Analysis 1-12-24 it would cost the state an additional 82 million dollars a year, with a total cost of the voucher program being north of $100 million dollars.

What does this mean for New Hampshire? Since there would not be an income limit the ultra-wealthy would be getting a tax subsidy to pay for private school, they were already managing just fine without a school voucher while hard working Granite Staters would continue to see their local property taxes rise and educational outcomes fall as money meant for our local neighborhood public schools becomes even more scarce.

The State of New Hampshire does a poor job making sure that all children have access to a robust public education in their district because it has done an inadequate job of funding public schools. Much has been left up to local property taxpayers, which is why some public schools are able to provide students with so much more than others. Our NH Constitution says, and courts have found, that this is not fair to our students or our local property taxpayers. Yet the Legislature is considering vouchers, which is something it chooses to spend money on, before it meets its constitutional funding obligation to all Granite State children and property taxpayers.

The Week Ahead   Next week all eyes will be on the First-In-The-Nation primary but there will still be a lot of action at the State House. This includes two bills that would dramatically impact our local public schools. Do you remember a couple of years ago when the legislature and Anti-Public Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut tried to change core curriculum so that schools would only have to teach four subjects. That bill is back. Also, coming back from the proverbial legislative grave yard is local school vouchers.

The following bills will be heard before the House Education Committee on Monday, January 22^nd. Both of these bills would have a significant negative impact on our local public schools. After reviewing the bills, we ask you to take the action requested below.

HB 1652-FN is a local school voucher bill. This the perfect example of taking a bad idea and making it worse. Instead of just covering the state cost of education under a voucher program, this bill requires the amount each municipality pays to educate their students would also go to voucher students. To put it simply, the local school district would be required to transfer funds directly to the student’s scholarship fund administered outside the district. The amount would be equal to twice the per pupil adequate education grant amount under RSA 198:40-a, plus any differentiated aid that would have been provided to a public school for that eligible student. Remember, the local vouchers would also apply to students who are not currently in public schools. This bill would cripple municipal budgets and dramatically raise local property taxes.

HB 1691 is a bill that requires that schools emphasize teaching reading, math, science and social studies, and all other subjects would become, in effect, optional. Our local public schools provide a well-rounded education to our students. While those core subjects are important, other subjects may be what makes a student excited to be in school and may be what gets them through the day. We also know that under our current funding formula schools from property poor towns would be more likely to have to get rid of these important subjects further widening the education gap in New Hampshire created by your zip code. Our students deserve a high quality, rounded education no matter which district they live in, and this bill hurts that goal.

ACTION NEEDED FOR THIS WEEK

Please click the link to email the House Education Committee and ask them to vote Inexpedient to Legislate on HB 1652 and HB 1691.

 Thank you for keeping informed and taking action. Reaching out to legislators does make a difference.

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

We will post next week’s schedule of bill we are monitoring at the end of the weekly bulletin. If you want to find out more information about any bill, you can simply enter the bill at the following link:  FIND A BILL.

Upcoming Legislative Hearings