Upcoming Week: Some Good, Some Bad, and Some Distractions
It’s another week of major hearings in the New Hampshire House and Senate. Top issues include books – one proactive freedom to read bill and yet another book ban – as well as friendly efforts to strengthen retirement and fund programs to address the educator shortage crisis in our state.
Major Hearings Next Week
HB 1311 – Protecting the Freedom to Read
ACTION REQUESTED: SIGN IN SUPPORT of HB 1311 being heard in HOUSE Education on Monday, January 29th at 10:15am. Please find step-by-step instructions to sign in below.
Every time we have fought back against book bans in New Hampshire, we have criticized the vague language and harsh punishments they enact on educators. None of these efforts sought to establish a clear process about how to ensure students have the freedom to learn without discriminating against them because of a political agenda.
On the contrary, HB 1311 would require local school districts to set up a clear policy about how school libraries develop their catalogue of materials and establish a process for parents to request reconsideration of material. The bill contains anti-discrimination protections and creates a clear standard for local school districts to operate within. Many local school boards have already adopted collection development and reconsideration or “challenge” policies. This bill will allow every Granite State student and family to be able to refer to a policy that states the criteria for selection and reconsideration of materials in their school library, and individual school districts can then decide what makes sense for them.
SB 523 – Book Ban #2 (Senate Version)
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in to OPPOSE SB 523 being heard in SENATE Education on Tuesday, January 30th at 9:15 am. Please find step-by-step instructions to sign in below.
On the flipside, a book ban will be heard in the state Senate next week that is nearly identical to the one heard in the House two weeks ago (which NEA-NH testified in opposition to). SB 523 is another attempt to create a vague book ban in our public schools accompanied by a convoluted process that is difficult to piece together and potentially very harmful to an educator caught in the middle. Beyond what the House bill sought to do, the Senate book ban bill gives broad powers to the state Department of Education to be able to review and correct how a book is rated by any vendor who supplies materials to school districts.
Educators want to ensure every child has access to an accurate and quality education, but certain politicians want to deny some kids access to learn about people who look like them. Click here to sign in to OPPOSE SB 523.
Positive Retirement Bills – Please Register Your Support!
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in to support SB 368, which is being heard in Senate ED&A on Wednesday, January 31 at 9:15am.
Last year, NEA-NH worked to achieve a big retirement win to ensure that when you retire, your pension is not recalculated prior to reaching your full-social security age, rather than age 65 where it has been stuck for years. Of course, 65 years old is no longer the age which people can collect their full social security amount to help supplement their retirement. This meant a member’s pension would remain at approximately a 10% higher level for up to two additional years, depending on when they retired.
SB 368 closes a loophole in how the law was applied so it includes those retirees who had retired before the law change occurred but not yet reached age 65. Sign in to SUPPORT SB 368 today!
ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign-in support of SB 309, which is being heard in Senate ED&A on Wednesday, January 31 at 9:30am.
Many of us know the actions the Legislature took a dozen years ago to change the rules of the game on those who did not have 10 years in as of 2012, cutting their eventual retirement benefits by changing the way they are calculated. This bill would establish a 5-year vesting period rather than a 10-year one. For newer educators and those seeking to come into the profession, this is hopefully one way to help provide some security that the legislature won’t change the rules in the middle of the game for them. It also provides a quicker time period to become a vested member of the system, like many of our neighboring states. Sign in to SUPPORT SB 309 today!
Re-Cap of the Past Week
Opposing Local Voucher Program
This week, NEA-NH submitted testimony opposing HB 1652, which revives a bill rejected last year that creates 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 for that child attending the local district school. As we know, the bulk of public education funding comes from our local property taxes, not the state, making this sort of voucher expansion program very consequential if adopted by a local community.
The next step for this bill is a recommendation vote from the House Education Committee, which could be as early as this week. Stay tuned for future action alerts on this and other voucher expansion bills.
Lower Standards for Students’ Education
This week, NEA-NH also opposed HB 1691, which essentially strips out a number of the core domain areas which are required of public schools when determining the delivery of an adequate education. This bill would remove art, health, world languages, physical education, engineering, personal finance literacy, and computer science from the from the list of required core academic domains and put them in a category where they are deemed “learning areas with attention to.”
Once again, some politicians are trying to water down what must be included and funded as part of an adequate education. The next step for this bill is a recommendation vote from the House Education Committee, which could be as early as this week. Stay tuned for future action alerts on HB 1691.
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.