There are more than 160 local and national groups across the U.S. working to turn disagreements over COVID-related mandates and lessons on history, discrimination, race, and gender into divisive wedges that are then manipulated for political purposes. It is safe to say that if the New Hampshire Department of Education is not on that list, it certainly should be added.
The manufactured outrage generated by these groups, including our own DOE, is a danger to educators and a distraction from helping students and parents. By importing national fights into our locally controlled schools, the Commissioner is hoping to use our children to further his far-right political aspirations and agenda.
We can all remember a time not too long ago when parents, educators, administrators, and the department of education worked together towards the same goal – making sure our kids were safe, nourished, and well-equipped for their future. There was a time when the commissioner of education was focused on the welfare of the children who attend our state’s public school.
These days are gone in Florida, Texas, and New Hampshire.
Our commissioner has turned his clearly visible disdain for public education into a crusade not to remold our schools, but to close them. By continually destabilizing what was once a model for public education in America, he is hoping more and more parents will opt out of New Hampshire public schools and choose the private and religious ones he favors and funds so generously with our tax dollars.
The hypocrisy of his efforts is laughable. On the one hand, he, and State Board of Education Chairman Cline demand our schools be fully transparent and free from indoctrination. Then after taking a short breath, they proclaim that it is more than fair that we send the same tax dollars that were meant to fund our public schools to private and religious schools that lack transparency and are founded on indoctrination.
Each day, parents across the state trust our schools to take care of a young person who is very precious to them. As president of NEA-New Hampshire, I can assure you we all take that responsibility very seriously. Many of the examples the commissioner presented in his Op-Ed as evidence of teachers breaking their sacred trust, were instead their heartfelt attempts to make meaningful connections with their students.
We all know that parenting takes many different forms. If the Commissioner bothered to visit a classroom for more than just a photo op, he would see that positive teaching practices share much in common with positive parenting practices. Responding to children in a predictable way, showing warmth and sensitivity, having routines and household rules, sharing books and talking with children, and supporting health and safety, are all shown to help children stay healthy, safe, and be successful.
Research indicates that teacher quality is the most important factor in students’ academic success. Commissioner Edelblut’s effort to destabilize our schools is harming kids the most since he is driving good teachers out of the state. Just ask Manchester and Nashua how many teaching positions they have open for the upcoming school year. Without enough teachers, class sizes soar, one-on-one attention vanishes, and student success stagnates.
Governor Sununu gave Edelblut this job. Then he gave him a four-year extension. Based on the Commissioner’s efforts, we can only assume that Governor Sununu is comfortable with destabilizing then closing our public schools.
Unless he is stopped, Commissioner Edelblut will succeed where Betsy DeVos failed.
Megan Tuttle
NEA-New Hampshire President