The New Hampshire Legislature began its 2024 session this week. The House met for two days to act on bills from the 2023 session. The Senate dealt with leftover bills on Wednesday, and conducted its first public hearings of 2024, including ones on important bills impacting public education and NEA-NH members. Thank you to all the members who signed in against the bills that had hearings this week that seek to resurrect last year’s parental rights legislation and expand private school vouchers.
Click here to view our full legislative tracker to see all the bills we are following this session.
Key Legislative Hearings Next Week
HB 1206: New Version of “Teacher Loyalty Bill” – Now “Educator Indoctrination”
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in and/or submit written testimony to OPPOSE this bill being heard on Monday, January 8 at 2:30 pm in the House Education Committee.
HB 1206 is a revamped version of a rejected bill two years ago called the “teacher loyalty” bill. It has a similar goal and approach to the banned concepts law: chill the delivery of an honest and accurate education by frightening educators with a vague law and harsh punishment.
HB 1206 states that “educators shall not present unproved theories as fact” and “an educator shall not push or assert, advocate for, or compel students to express belief in support for, any particular theory or ideology.” Where does this leave an educator when discussing all kinds of scientific, sociological, or historical theories or ideas in class? What is the standard of an “unproved theory”? How does a law like this play out in the form of debate or classroom discussion?
Without clear definition we are left wondering how different people can interpret where the line exists between instruction, discussion, and advocacy. We know this is part of a vague design built into these types of laws to chill class discussion without expressly stating it in the wording of the legislation.
Finally, this bill establishes a violation of the educator code of conduct for running afoul of this bill, which can result in the revocation of an educator license.
Please click here to urge the House Education Committee to reject legislation that threatens educator careers for political gain and find HB 1206 Inexpedient to Legislate! Follow these steps:
- Enter your personal information
- Select the hearing date – January 8
- Select the committee – House Education
- Choose the bill – HB 1206
- I am – A member of the public
- Choose who you are representing – Myself
- Indicate your position on this bill – OPPOSE
- Upload remote testimony (Optional)
- Review information and click submit
HB 1377: So-Called “Right to Work” Legislation is Still Wrong for NH
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in to OPPOSE HB 1377, which is being heard on Wednesday, January 10 at 3:00 pm in the House Labor Committee using the House online testimony submission tool.
Speaking of re-run legislation, so-called “right to work” legislation is back again in the form of HB 1377 and will be heard this coming week in the House Labor committee. This anti-worker effort is still an attack on collective bargaining and an attempt to weaken unions. For decades NEA-NH has fought against this legislation because it is the centerpiece of an agenda to maximize corporate profits by passing laws that weaken basic worker protections, undo safety standards, keep wages low, and undermine the ability of labor unions to improve jobs and keep corporate power in check by giving workers a stronger voice.
This kind of legislation is an attack on both public and private sector unions and their members so please take the time to sign in against this bill before the hearing to remind your state representatives that after decades of special interest groups trying to pass this legislation, “Right to Work” is still wrong for NH!
Please click here to urge the House Labor Committee to reject HB 1377:
- Enter your personal information
- Select the hearing date – January 10
- Select the committee – House Labor
- Choose the bill – HB 1377
- I am – A member of the public
- Choose who you are representing – Myself
- Indicate your position on this bill – OPPOSE
- Upload remote testimony (Optional)
- Review information and click submit
Recap of Session and Key Hearings this Past Week
Senate Passes SB 217 – Loan Repayment for New Educators! This week the NH Senate passed SB 217 which establishes a rural and underserved educator loan repayment program. This initiative would help rural school districts recruit and retain educators by providing up to $12,000 for public school educators to pay off their college loans. The bill next goes to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration where we will be urging them to fund this program to help strengthen the pipeline of new educators into the profession.
NEA-NH Testifies Against Return of Parental Rights Bill Provision. This week NEA-NH delivered testimony to the Senate Education Committee opposing SB 341, relative to mandatory disclosure by school district employees to parents. This bill is nothing more than an attempt to pass a portion of previously rejected so-called “parental rights” legislation. Like similar bills before it, SB 341 garnered overwhelming opposition from educators, school boards, LGBTQ+ rights groups, civil liberties advocates, and the public at large. Even the NH Department of Education stated the standard used in this bill was unclear and would be difficult to enforce.
As part of our testimony, NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle stated: “This bill sets up a confusing and intimidating process for an educator in a school and will not serve the students in furthering their education. We urge the Senate Education Committee to find SB 341 Inexpedient to Legislate and focus on legislation that will strengthen the educator workforce and fulfill the funding obligation the state has to ensure each student has access to a robust and world class public education.”
NEA-NH Opposes Private School Voucher Scheme Expansion in SB 442 and SB 522. This week, the Senate Education Committee also heard two bills that would expand the current private school voucher program. As part of NEA-NH’s testimony in opposition to these bills, President Tuttle urged the committee: “Instead of sending taxpayer money to private schools we should focus on public schools – where nearly 90% of our children attend – not take money away from them. We need to reduce class sizes and give our students more one-on-one attention and increase salaries to address the teacher and staff shortages.”
Click here to read our full statement and find out more about how each bill would expand the state’s current unaccountable voucher scheme.
Questions?
If you have questions on any of these bills or ones not mentioned here, please feel free to contact Brian Hawkins, NEA-NH Director of Government Relations at bhawkins@nhnea.org.