Two Major Hearings in Senate This Week and Major House Floor Vote
This week we have 2 major public hearings in the Senate: a positive bill that would make a modest increase in state aid to school districts, and one of the last of two remaining culture war bills that squeaked through the House.
We also have a major House floor vote taking place on Thursday for SB 341, the bill that would force educators to out LGBTQ+ students under the threat of licensure removal.
Please read all the items this week and take action on each!
HB 1583 – Increases State Aid to Local School Districts
HB 1583 passed the House on a bipartisan 205-177 vote. The bill as amended increases base adequacy from $4,100 to $4,404 per pupil and adds over $60 million in targeted aid, divided between fiscal capacity disparity aid, which directs funds to communities with lower property values, and funding for districts with higher proportions of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. While these amounts are far from the original amounts in the bill and from what courts have said are the duty of the state to fund, this would be additional aid to districts who badly need it.
This bill is being heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday April 30th at 2:00pm in Room 103 of State House. Please write in or sign in SUPPORT of HB 1583 so the Senate Finance Committee knows how badly this funding is needed.
Instructions for Senate Hearing Sign-ins Are at the end of the Update.
HB 1312 – Vague Curriculum/Materials Parental Notification Bill
This bill has many similarities in what its sponsors are attempting to do as the bill going to the House floor this week regarding the forced outing of LGBTQ+ students, however it approaches it from a slightly different angle and also includes language dramatically broadening the 2-week notice requirement around curriculum material. You may remember that the NH Department of Education attempted to broaden their interpretation of this long standing law in one the Commissioner’s attempts to chill certain types of curriculum and course material in schools. This bill would essentially codify their interpretation leaving educators wondering what course material could apply to the notice requirements that traditionally had been focused around sex education and health classes. The bill also contains more vague language that is similar to other so-called parental rights legislation that puts educators in impossible positions as to what actions or conversations could put them or a student in jeopardy when they are only trying to be a trusted adult at school.
Unfortunately, this bill squeaked through the House by a single vote, and so it is critical that we stop this in the Senate. The Senate Education Committee is holding a public hearing on Tuesday, April 30th at 9:10am in Room 101 of the Legislative Office Building.
Please write in or sign in against HB 1312 and let the Senate Education Committee know we don’t want more legislation that damages educators’ relationship with parents and students.
Instructions for Senate Hearing Sign-ins Are at the end of the Update.
SB 341 Heads to the House Floor: Tell Your Representative to Vote No!
One day after hearing SB 341, relative to mandatory disclosure by school district employees to parents, the House Education Committee Voted 10 – 10 on party lines to send the bill the House floor without recommendation. This bill is essentially an excerpt from a previous version of the so-called “parental rights” legislation. A recent committee amendment to the bill does nothing to improve it at all.
This bill is targeted toward forcing educators to out LGBTQ+ students by requiring licensed educators to answer written inquiries within a 10-day period, “completely and honestly”, a standard that even the NH Department of Education acknowledged is incredibly subjective. The bill serves only to turn school employees into student surveillance drones rather than being able to focus on educating students – all under the threat of licensure removal. It also puts educators in the middle of families without the opportunity to ensure they are doing no harm. The bill does not consider protocols established at the local level for how to handle complex inquiries, causing concern that this bill could create tremendous liability for individual educators.
Like so many bills we have seen over the last several years, this legislation combines vague language with harsh punishments, and in doing so uses the educator-parent relationship as a political football. Parents and educators have been working together well for a long time and this sort of legislation only serves to damage that relationship.
This bill is on the floor of the New Hampshire House on Thursday May 2nd. Please call your State Representative(s) today and tell them to vote NO on SB 341!
Stop Last Effort to Dramatically Expand Private School Vouchers: Say No to HB 1665
Thank you to all those members who signed in against the more extreme voucher expansion bill which was heard in the Senate Education Committee this week. This bill is an even more dramatic expansion of private school vouchers that raises eligibility to enter the program from 350% of the Federal Poverty Level to 500% (or $156k per year for a family of four). This bill would bring the state a long way toward universal voucher eligibility and the fiscal debacles with public education that states like Florida and Arizona are facing right now. For New Hampshire, this could mean as much as an additional $66 million diverted from public education annually.
Several organizations funded by the Koch brothers are now focusing on this, effectively the last remaining voucher expansion bill in the legislature this year. Some Republican state senators have expressed caution about expanding the private school voucher program as far as this bill would but the pressure will be on and that’s why it is critical you act now and urge your state senator to reject expanding the runaway voucher program!
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. You can also follow all the bills we are watching next week and check on a bill’s status by visiting our NEA-NH bill tracker.
Need help signing in on legislation? Follow these comprehensive instructions (details for public hearings are contained in each action request).
For Senate hearings:
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.