There are three bills pending before the legislature addressing parental rights. The bills are SB 272, HB 10, and HB 619. Following is the separate testimony for each bill.
AFT-NH Testimony on SB 272 From Debrah Howes, President of AFT-NH (March 7, 2023)
Thank you, Chairperson Ward and Members of the Senate Education Committee, for reading my testimony.
My name is Debrah Howes. I am the president of the American Federation of Teachers-NH.
AFT-NH represents 4,000 teachers, paraeducators and school support staff, public service employees and higher education faculty across New Hampshire. My members work with approximately 29,000 of the 165,000 public school students in New Hampshire in one way or another as well as thousands of university students. I am writing today in opposition to SB 272, establishing the parental bill of rights.
I think it is best to start with the obvious. We know that the students in our neighborhood public schools make the most academic gains and really thrive when parents, teachers and school staff work together as a support team for the best interest of the student. Educators want nothing more than to work as partners with parents who are involved and invested in their student’s education! However, bills like SB 272 can get in the way of that partnership when what parents want for their students differs from what the student needs to feel safe and welcomed and learn at school. This bill tells teachers and school staff they must put aside any obligation to the student, even as simple as treating the student with respect, or teaching the district approved curriculum. If they don’t, they face penalties up to and including loss of license and career. This bill would greatly impair the ability to teachers to teach and students to learn in schools. It creates an environment of distrust among educators and students and does nothing to further students’ education. In fact, it has great potential to limit it.
Right now, in schools across New Hampshire the Department of Education is paying for the “One Trusted Adult” program, which is an anti-bullying program. I have included a flyer from this program at the end of my testimony. On the flyer it says, “What you say in here…stays in here.” Under that is says “Unless, you give permission to share with another trusted adult.” This bill would require teachers to break that kind of trust on any given day.
Additionally, we are concerned with the penalties associated with this law. New Hampshire educators are responsible not just to parents and to the state but to their employer, the local school district. Imposing new penalties outside of the code of conduct is a violation of educators’ due process rights.
We need our students to feel safe at school and to have their school be a place they feel welcome. We need students to have a level of trust in their teachers and be willing to take academic risks by working hard on challenging learning tasks. For the sake of their well-being, and perhaps their very survival, we also need for students to know that they can turn to their teachers or school staff to be a trusted adult – especially if they don’t have one in their home. SB 272 erodes trust and will diminish the quality of some students’ educational experience and cause them to lose a place and person that feels safe to them.
For those reasons and the reasons stated above we ask you to vote SB 272 Inexpedient to Legislate.
Debrah Howes, AFT-NH President
AFT-NH Testimony on HB 10 From Debrah Howes, President of AFT-NH (March 7, 2023)
Thank you, Chairman Pearson and Members of the House Children and Family Law Committee, for reading my testimony.
My name is Debrah Howes. I am the president of the American Federation of Teachers-NH.
AFT-NH represents 4,000 teachers, paraeducators and school support staff, public service employees and higher education faculty across New Hampshire. My members work with approximately 29,000 of the 165,000 public school students in New Hampshire in one way or another as well as thousands of university students. I am writing today in opposition to HB10, establishing the parental bill of rights.
I think it is best to start with the obvious. We know that the students in our neighborhood public schools make the most academic gains and really thrive when parents, teachers and school staff work together as a support team for the best interest of the student. Educators want nothing more than to work as partners with parents who are involved and invested in their student’s education! However, bills like HB10 can get in the way of that partnership when what parents want for their students differs from what the student needs to feel safe and welcomed and learn at school. This bill tells teachers and school staff they must put aside any obligation to the student, even as simple as treating the student with respect, or teaching the district approved curriculum. If they don’t, they face penalties up to and including loss of license and career. This bill would greatly impair the ability to teachers to teach and students to learn in schools. It creates an environment of distrust among educators and students and does nothing to further students’ education. In fact, it has great potential to limit it.
Right now, in schools across New Hampshire the Department of Education is paying for the “One Trusted Adult” program, which is an anti-bullying program. I have included a flyer from this program at the end of my testimony. On the flyer it says, “What you say in here…stays in here.” Under that it says “Unless, you give permission to share with another trusted adult.” This bill would require teachers to break that kind of trust on any given day.
Additionally, we are concerned with the penalties associated with this law. New Hampshire educators are responsible not just to parents and to the state but to their employer, the local school district. Imposing new penalties outside of the code of conduct is a violation of educators’ due process rights.
We need our students to feel safe at school and to have their school be a place they feel welcome. We need students to have a level of trust in their teachers and be willing to take academic risks by working hard on challenging learning tasks. For the sake of their well-being, and perhaps their very survival, we also need for students to know that they can turn to their teachers or school staff to be a trusted adult – especially if they don’t have one in their home. HB10 erodes trust and will diminish the quality of some students’ educational experience and cause them to lose a place and person that feels safe to them.
For those reasons and the reasons stated above we ask you to vote HB10 Inexpedient to Legislate.
Debrah Howes, President, AFT-New Hampshire
AFT-NH Testimony on HB 619 From Debrah Howes, President of AFT-NH (March 7, 2023)
Thank you, Chair MacDonald and Members of the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee, for reading my testimony.
My name is Debrah Howes. I am the president of the American Federation of Teachers-NH.
AFT-NH represents 4,000 teachers, paraeducators and school support staff, public service employees and higher education faculty across New Hampshire. My members work with approximately 29,000 of the 165,000 public school students in New Hampshire in one way or another as well as thousands of university students. I am writing today in opposition to HB 619, prohibiting gender transition procedures for minors, relative to sex and gender in public schools, and relative to the definition of conversion therapy.
I think it is best to start with the obvious. Our neighborhood public schools and our students thrive when parents, teachers and staff work together for the best interest of the student. Educators want nothing more than parents who are involved and invested in their student’s education. However, bills like HB 619 can get in the way of that partnership when what some parents want for their students differs from what the student needs to feel safe and welcomed and be able to learn at school. This bill would create an environment of distrust among educators and students and do nothing to further students’ education. It would instead limit it.
This bill's language is vague and confusing and would leave educators with little direction on how to run their classroom. Consider the section of HB 619 that says, “Parents are solely responsible for teaching their children about matters of faith, morals, and matters relating to their sexuality.” In all grades but especially in elementary schools, teachers spend a large amount of the day talking to children about how to behave around their peers and how to act appropriately. Would this now be a violation? How is a teacher supposed to know where the line is? Is teaching about kindness or turn-taking acceptable, or does it cross the line into teaching about morals? And if it does cross that line, how do you possibly manage a room full of six year olds without lessons that someone, somewhere would consider morals?
Right now, in schools across New Hampshire the Department of Education is paying for the “One Trusted Adult” program, an anti-bullying program. I have included a flyer from this program with my testimony. On the flyer it says, “What you say in here…stays in here.” Under that is says “Unless, you give permission to share with another trusted adult.” Provisions of this bill directly contradicts that by requiring teachers and school staff to break the trust that students might place in them.
In the teachers’ code of conduct, a set of procedures that govern teachers, it clearly states that a teacher must treat each student with dignity and respect, a threshold that is not possible to meet if you refuse to call a student by the name of their choosing. Yet this bill would require a teacher to show that kind of disrespect, or face consequences. – And of course, violate the code of conduct if you do follow the requirements of this bill!
We have a further concern with the penalties associated with this bill. New Hampshire educators are responsible not just to parents and to the state but to their employer, the local school district. Imposing new penalties outside of the code of conduct is a violation of educators’ due process rights. Allowing for the immediate suspension of a teacher’s license—their livelihood-- without even so much as a hearing is far beyond what could be considered reasonable.
We need our students to feel safe at school and to have their school be a place they feel welcome and can learn. We need students to have a level of trust in their teachers and be willing to take academic risks by working hard on challenging learning tasks. For the sake of their well-being, and perhaps their very survival, we also need for students to know that they can turn to their teachers or school staff to be a trusted adult – especially if they don’t have one in their home. HB 619 erodes trust and will diminish the quality of some students’ educational experience and cause them to lose a place and person that feels safe to them.
For those reasons, we ask you to vote HB 619 Inexpedient to Legislate.
Debrah Howes, President, AFT-New Hampshire