Week of Consequential Votes and More Important Hearings Coming this Week
This week we had a number of important hearings and even floor votes on consequential bills surrounding the expansion of private school vouchers, a major book ban bill, and lowering standards for those who teach part-time. Please take a look at more detail on these and what comes next in the recap.
This week coming up we are following a lot of bills around private school vouchers, cooperative school district governance bills, labor law for minors, and special education. We’re highlighting a couple of hearings where it will be especially important for committees to hear from you. We are also expecting more major legislation to come out of the Senate Education Committee, including some kind of amendment on SB 341, a new version of the old so-called “parental rights” legislation.
To follow all the bills NEA-NH is tracking this session, click here!
Highlighted Action Opportunities for This Week
Local Voucher Bill Returns – Local Property Taxes to Fund Private School Vouchers
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in against HB 1652 being heard in House Education on Monday, January 22nd at 10:15am. Full instructions to sign in below.
HB 1652 would bring back a similarly failed bill from last year that would create the ability for a school district to adopt a local school district voucher program. Local school district taxpayers that voted in this program would be required to fund a voucher account worth twice the state aid they would have received from the state for that child attending the local district school. As we know, the bulk of education funding comes from our local property taxes already, not the state, making this sort of voucher program very consequential if adopted by a local community.
HB 1691 – Attempting to Cut the Areas of Required Core Knowledge Domain….AGAIN!
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign or write testimony in OPPOSITION TO HB 1691 which is being heard in House Education on Monday, January 22nd at 11:15am.
In 2022, Commissioner Edelblut asked the legislature to strip out a number of the core domain areas which are required of public schools when determining the delivery of an adequate education. After hearing from hundreds of educators, lawmakers rejected efforts to water down standards for public education and made the core content areas more robust.
HB 1691 is essentially that same bill that was previously rejected. HB 1691 would cut the core knowledge domains into four: math, science, social studies, and English Language Arts. The law would require schools to give “attention to” the other specified content areas: art, health and physical education, engineering, computer science, digital literacy, and world languages. Once again, some politicians are trying to water down what must be included and funded as part of an adequate education. Let’s not go backwards on offering a robust education for every student in New Hampshire. If we want to best prepare our students to succeed in the future, watering down our academic standards is not the way to go.
Last Week’s Recap
NEA-NH Opposes Latest Book Ban Bill at Hearing on HB 1419
Last Thursday, NEA-NH testified in opposition to the latest attempt by extreme politicians to ban books in our public schools. President Megan Tuttle joined leaders from the ACLU-NH and AFT-NH, librarians, and other members of the public to overwhelmingly oppose this bill. HB 1419 amounts to another attempt at banning unnamed books from our public schools by using vague standards accompanied by a convoluted process that is difficult to piece together and potentially very harmful to an educator caught in the middle of this unnecessary legislation.
Click here to contact members of the House Education Committee and urge them to oppose HB 1419.
Senate Republicans Ram through Part-Time Teacher Bill
Only 48-hours after the public hearing on SB 374, Senate Republicans approved it in committee and sent it to the floor of the Senate where it passed on party lines. This bill creates a part-time uncredentialed teacher position. While our state is facing an educator shortage, lowering the standards of who can teach in a public school is misguided and jeopardizes students’ access to quality education. Regardless of whether someone teaches full or part-time, they ought to possess the knowledge and skills to teach effectively. SB 374 next goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
House Heard Four Voucher Expansion Bills; Senate Passes One
The New Hampshire House heard nearly all of the private school voucher expansion bills this week, including ones that would create a universal voucher program by either lifting the income cap requirement to enter the program entirely or by creating such broad categories of students that it was effectively a universal voucher program.
The Legislature just expanded the eligibility last year, and some want to follow in the footsteps of other states like Arizona and Florida who have decimated their public-school funding by diverting more public dollars to private and religious schools. 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. Stay tuned for action alerts when these bills head to the floor for a full House vote.
The full Senate passed SB 442, their voucher expansion bill to allow any student denied a manifest hardship exemption to be eligible for a voucher regardless of their income. The bill passed 13 – 11 with one Republican state senator, Denise Ricciardi, joining the Democratic caucus in opposition. SB 442 next goes to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration.
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.
Need help signing in on legislation? Follow these comprehensive instructions (details for public hearings are contained in each action request).
For House bills:
1. Visit this link: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx
2. Enter your personal information
3. Select the hearing date
4. Select the committee
5. Choose the bill
6. I am – A member of the public
7. Choose who you are representing – Myself
8. Indicate your position on this bill
9. Upload remote testimony (Optional)
10. Review information and click submit
For Senate bills:
1. Go to https://bit.ly/3S4Cof1 and click the date that the bill you are interested in is being heard
2. Select the committee that is hearing the bill
3. Select the bill you are interested in
4. Select a category – Member of the Public
5. Indicate your position on this bill
6. Click continue
7. Enter your name and contact information
8. Click continue
9. Carefully review the information to ensure it is entered correctly. If it is correct, check the box and click continue.