Yearly Archives: 2023

ED 306 Status: Lowering Our Education Standards is a Bad Idea

Nothing less than our students’ future depends on their schools meeting high expectations and having a comprehensive curriculum. In 2020, the New Hampshire Department of Education (NHED) began updating the state’s Minimum Standards for Public School Approval (also known as the ED 306 Administrative Rules), that serve as the foundation for all of our public schools, in a process marked by secrecy and concerns about conflicts of interest. The draft revisions also include substantial changes that could undermine and destabilize New Hampshire’s public schools. There have been deep concerns around the process for the revision of the minimum standards. The NHED […]

NEA Annual Rankings and Estimates Exposes Serious Issues

Too many legislators are working to drive dedicated educators from the profession Concord, NH – April 24, 2023 – The annual NEA Rankings and Estimates Report was released today. The data, combined with a recent NEA-New Hampshire survey of its members indicates a perfect storm is brewing in public education that needs to be addressed. New Hampshire reported an average teacher salary for 2021-2022 of $62,783 ranking us 33rd in the country: almost $4,000 less than the national average, $9,200 less than the New England average, and $26,755 less than our neighbor to the south, Massachusetts. The report also found […]

NEA-NH Deeply Concerned About SB 272

As educators, we want all students to have the freedom to be themselves and pursue their dreams.  But today, in New Hampshire and across the country, we have politicians fueling divisions among parents and educators by pushing laws that erase our history, from Selma to Stonewall, and target and punish educators for doing their jobs. They want to limit what books students can read and exclude transgender kids from healthcare, school, and sports.  These politicians are exploiting lack of familiarity with LGBTQ+ students to distract us from their own failures to deliver for our families and communities. We think that […]

Legislative Update: House Passes Budget Version

State Budget Gets an Upgrade with Bi-Partisan Agreement – Still More Work to Do This week House Democratic and Republican leaders reached an agreement to make changes to the House Finance committee version of the trailer bill to the budget that helped the legislation pass on a voice vote in the House this week. Just days before this, such a result was unthinkable with major objections to the bill raised by NEA-NH around the education portion of the budget as well as several other labor and advocacy groups. House Democratic leadership brought those concerns to the negotiating table, and produced […]

NEA-NH Statement on House Passage of HB 2

CONCORD, NH, April 6, 2023 – The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed their version of the budget today, HB 2, voting to approve a much-improved product from what the House Finance committee originally voted out. “The education funding formula approved today delivers more aid to some of the communities who need it most,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-New Hampshire President. “We are also pleased that school voucher expansion language was removed from HB 2, and that spending on the program was moderated in the agreement voted on today.” “We look forward to working with the Senate to ensure that the […]