NH House Should Reject Budget—It’s Bad for Students and Communities
You can’t expect bread to rise without enough yeast. Likewise, you can’t expect potholes to smooth out without enough asphalt. And you can’t expect New Hampshire public schools to improve without enough funding for the programs and services that we know will improve student outcomes.
The state budget that the House will consider on June 24 is an affront to students, families and communities, especially those that are considered “property poor” and have very little revenue to add to whatever state education funding they receive. The budget has other harmful provisions that, taken in total, should make it a non-starter for any lawmakers who actually care about the well-being of their communities and residents. This budget should be rejected and sent back to the drawing board.
New Hampshire is dead last in the nation in state education funding.
https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/2021%20Rankings_and_Estimates_Report.pdf
That’s nothing to be proud of. In fact, it’s downright shameful. When your property tax bill goes up again next year, it will be largely due to the fact that the state continues to be negligent in paying its fair share to educate our children. And yet, the budget makes matters even worse. It takes a lot of gall to propose spending $100 million less than two years ago in public education funding to cities and towns and also include in the budget a voucher measure that would transfer millions of public dollars to virtually unaccountable privately run schools. This is a hard slap in the face to all who believe that strong public schools are the bedrock of our communities and democracy and must be funded adequately so that Granite State students can thrive, progress and move on to their next level of education with confidence. Further, the budget unconscionably favors “property-rich” towns that already reap plenty of revenue from high property values, while punishing property-poor communities that can’t augment state funding, now more meager than ever. Students in these areas are struggling with the consequences of poverty, and this only adds to the inequities.
The budget also includes a measure that will stymie the ability of students and public employees to get a full understanding of racism, both historical and present day, both conscious racism or not. The budget would ban schools and public entities from discussing “divisive concepts.” As we learned in the aftermath of the deaths of George Floyd and other African Americans, there is an urgent need for thoughtful conversations in classrooms using culturally responsive curricula as well as anti-bias training in workplaces.
Teaching America’s history requires considering all the facts available to us—including those that are uncomfortable—like the history of enslavement and discrimination toward people of color and people perceived as different. For our students to be ready to confront the real world, we must expose them to these programs and get them thinking in ways they might not have considered before.
And there’s another consequence to consider if these discussions are banned. It would limit the ability of police departments to implement the recommendations of the governor’s Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency. Business leaders, faith leaders, students and teachers have all criticized the “divisive concepts” measure because of the damage it would do, and it should be dumped.
Let’s bring sanity to the budget process and show our students, families and communities that our state lawmakers actually care about their futures. The House should reject the budget, proceed with a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the state, and get back to the table and remove the provisions that will harm Granite Staters. Our state deserves better.
Deb Howes of Hudson, N.H., is president of AFT-New Hampshire.