AFT-NH Testimony on HB 10 establishing the parental bill of rights
From Debrah Howes, President AFT-NH
Thank you, Chairman Pearson and members of the Children and Family Law Committee.
My name is Debrah Howes. I am president of the American Federation of Teachers – New Hampshire. I am here to speak on behalf of our 3500 members across the state. Our members include preK through 12 public school educators and support staff, public and private university faculty as well as town employees across the Granite State.
I am here today to testify in opposition to HB 10 establishing the parental bill of rights.
While this bill gathers together existing statutory parental rights in one place, it also appears to expand on them with some sweeping assertions and vague language. This bill sets up potential conflicts between parents and teachers or other school staff when a parent asserts their unlimited right to direct the education of his child while in a public school and the teacher is teaching the school board approved curriculum to meet the state approved standards. We know that students do best in school when parents and teachers work together as a team, focusing on the best interest of the child.
A parent’s right to direct his child’s education certainly allows a parent to decide whether to enroll their child in public school, private school, a learning pod or homeschooling. Some parents believe this also gives them the right to micromanage what gets taught in public school classrooms and what materials get used, down to the last worksheet. This is not the case. Parents do have opt out rights in statute for some lessons and curriculum. If each individual parent is given the right to dictate what is taught in the classroom, there will be conflict between what one child’s parent wants and what another child’s parent wants. This is why public school curriculum is decided by elected school boards, with input from the whole community. The same school boards also set policies for selecting textbooks and other materials.
We have questions about some other wording in the bill that could lead to conflict or confusion. Section I b talks about parents right to direct the moral training of their children. While certainly that should happen, there are times when teachers or school staff need to impart or reinforce a moral lesson. “We don’t hit our classmates, that’s not how we solve problems. We use our words.” Would that lesson often taught in kindergarten be considered a violation of some parents’ rights?
We also have concerns about the things that aren’t spelled out. In Section III the bill talks about attempting to encourage or attempting to coerce a student withhold information. What does that look like? How does anyone attempt to coerce? It is a vague, undefined action that, in this bill, requires disciplinary action. That section needs to be removed.
Section IV mentions inalienable parental rights that are more comprehensive and not listed in this bill. If they aren’t listed in this bill, how will we know what they are? How will we know if we purposely or inadvertently violate any of them?
The bill also goes on to threaten punishment against school districts and teachers for violating any part of it. And that’s where this bill really fails. Rather than just making parents aware of what rights they have, it promises punishments against school boards, school districts, administrators, teachers and school staff. A teacher who violates any provisions of this bill would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2000 fine. They would also lose their teaching credentials.
Between the sweeping assertions of unlimited rights and the imprecise wording, this bill will have a chilling effect on the very educators that parents need to be partnering with in our public schools if they want to help their students learn and thrive. Teamwork between parents and educators is essential to the student’s success, but it is not possible with this bill creating an imbalance in that relationship using threats of arrests, fines and loss of livelihood for educators.
We urge you to find HB10 Inexpedient to Legislate
Sincerely,
Debrah Howes
President, AFT-New Hampshire