Yesterday, an update on the state voucher program was provided by the New
Hampshire Department of Education.
Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire, provided this statement in response:
“This update on the state voucher program confirms what we already knew–the vast majority of
Granite State families trust and support their neighborhood public schools.
Commissioner Edelblut has focused his energy on a small sliver of the population that was
never in public schools when we need state leaders to focus on the real issue: the underfunding
of New Hampshire’s public education system that disadvantages students, leads to educator
shortages, and burdens property taxpayers.
There are many, proven ways to improve schools and student outcomes, such as reducing class
sizes so that teachers can provide more one-on-one attention, offering a well-rounded
curriculum, and increasing parental involvement.
Let’s be clear–vouchers take scarce funding away from public schools and give it to private and
religious schools that are unaccountable to the public. Taxpayer funds should be spent to
resource neighborhood public schools to ensure they are desirable places to be and to learn,
where students’ natural curiosity is inspired. That’s our best bet for building a brighter future for
every student in New Hampshire.”