Contact the Legislative Rules Committee: These Rules Ignore Educator Concerns
The Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR) will take a second look at the entire overhaul proposal of the Minimum Standards for Public School Approval (also known as the 306 rules) on Thursday, November 21st, after having delayed a vote on the first half the State Board of Education’s proposal back in September.
As a reminder, the 306 Rules are the rules and regulations that govern the minimum requirements to be a public school in New Hampshire. The entire set of rules govern everything including class sizes, facility requirements, local school board policy requirements, as well as curriculum and program standards and more.
Throughout the multi-year overhaul process, educators, parents, and students have continued to express concerns about Commissioner Edelblut’s proposed changes to the minimum standards. NEA-New Hampshire maintains that the State Board’s final proposal would cause significant concerns for the future of public education in our state. Unfortunately, our concerns and those expressed by educators all across the state have largely been ignored by Commissioner Edelblut and the NH State Board of Education.
Some of the key areas of concerns include, but not limited to:
- Removal of maximum class sizes
- Eliminating or weakening content area standards and other requirements that
- Lower standards for Extended Learning Opportunities
- Removing required course offerings
- New changes in required credits for graduation
- Changes to the definition of “instructional time”
- Removal of school facilities requirements for buildings not operated by school districts
- Mandated learning & instructional resources
You can see a comprehensive overview of concerns from Reaching Higher.
JLCAR Meeting and Public Hearing
The Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules is responsible for evaluating all administrative rules. JLCAR will now evaluate the 306 Rules overhaul and determine whether to approve it, issue an objection, or request changes to meet approval. Objections are supposed to be issued if the committee determines that the rule changes are:
- Beyond and Agency’s Authority
- Contrary to Legislative Intent
- Contrary to Public Interest
- There is economic impact of the Rules not recognized by the Agency or Board in their statement to the legislature
We believe this final proposal continues to try to make policy that is beyond its authority in the law, contrary to the intent of the legislature when they crafted our public education statutes, contrary to the public interest because it creates inequitable, watered-down standards for students, and are entirely unresponsive to the concerns raised by educators, students, and parents.
You can also attend the hearing and meeting in person on Thursday November 21st at 9:00 a.m. in room 306 – 308 in the Legislative Office Building.
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.