CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire Senate Education Committee heard testimony on two bills that would expand our state’s private school voucher program – SB 442 and SB 522.
Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, provided the following statement after the hearings:
“At a time when New Hampshire should be investing more in public education and building environments where all students can be successful, it is disappointing that some lawmakers want to divert even more public funds for private and religious school costs. We know how to improve educational outcomes and we’re counting on New Hampshire’s elected officials to fulfill the state’s obligations to neighborhood public schools and the 90% of students who attend them so districts can reduce class sizes, enable more one-on-one attention for students, and increase salaries to address the educator shortage New Hampshire is currently experiencing.”
Background:
New Hampshire’s current voucher program:
- New Hampshire’s voucher program launched in 2021 and permits families to use taxpayer funds to pay for tuition for costs associated with private schools, homeschool, and other non-public school options.
- According to data from the NH Department of Education, enrollment in the voucher program grew 40% between 2022 and 2023, to a total of 4,211 participants in the 2023-2024 school year.
- Funds to cover vouchers – which will cost an estimated $24 million this year alone – come directly from the Education Trust Fund.
- Current eligibility requirements for New Hampshire’s school voucher program include that the child must be at least 5 years old and no older than 20 years old and entering Kindergarten – 12th grade.
- As part of the 2023 state budget, lawmakers increased the income threshold for voucher eligibility to 350% of federal poverty level.
- According to Reaching Higher NH, based on data provided by NH DOE, fewer than half (44%) of students enrolled in the voucher program this year are classified as low-income, down from 54% when the program launched in 2021.
SB 442 relative to student eligibility for education freedom accounts
- Under current state law, students can receive a reassignment to another school if their parent or guardian requests and it is deemed in the best interest of the child, or if a manifest hardship exemption exists where it is shown the student faces a detrimental impact on academic achievement in their current school.
- SB 442 would allow any student who has NOT met that best interest or hardship test to receive a private school voucher regardless of their family’s financial means. This bill lifts an income cap for anyone DENIED a school reassignment under the state’s change of school assignment that could dramatically expand New Hampshire’s private school voucher program and have negative consequences on the sustainability of New Hampshire’s Education Trust Fund that jeopardize public education funding.
SB 522 relative to establishing an early childhood education scholarship account and making an appropriation therefor
- As written, SB 522 would further expand vouchers by extending the program to ages 2 ½ to 5, with similar wide-open usages of these public funds as the current unaccountable K-12 voucher scheme.
- There is no requirement in the bill as written that funds be used for pre-school education that best prepares a child to enter Kindergarten, rather, it permits similar wide-open usages of these public funds as the current K-12 voucher program using public funds from the Education Trust Fund.
- To be clear, funding to help parents afford childcare and early childhood education are critical, but there are other proposals that exist to do so without expanding vouchers that siphon public funds away from public education.
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About NEA-New Hampshire
NEA-New Hampshire is the largest union of public employees in the state. Founded in 1854, the New Hampshire State Teachers Association became one of the “founding ten” state education associations that formed the National Education Association in 1857. Known today as NEA-NH, and comprised of more than 17,000 members, our mission to advocate for the children of New Hampshire and public-school employees, and to promote lifelong learning, remains true after more than 165 years. Our members are public school employees in all stages of their careers, including classroom teachers and other certified professionals, staff and instructors at public higher education institutions, students preparing for a teaching career, education support personnel and those retired from the profession.