Monthly Archives: March 2025

3/14/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

This Week: Universal Vouchers and Mandatory School Spending Caps Move Forward  HB 115 & SB 295 – Universal Vouchers  This week, the House and Senate passed their respective universal voucher expansion bills.   HB 115 passed the House, 198 – 180, with every House Democrat and 10 Republicans dissenting.  SB 295 passed the Senate,16-8, with all 16 Republicans supporting the universal voucher bill and all 8 Democrats voting in opposition.   We are grateful for the lawmakers who recognized any expansion of this program will gobble up public tax dollars to subsidize private school tuition for wealthy families. Make no mistake, if […]

PRESS RELEASE: NH House and Senate Vote to Take More Public Money Away from Public Schools

HB 115 and SB 295 Subsidize Private Education for Wealthy Families While NH Property Taxpayers Struggle to Fill in Gaps for Inadequate Public Education Funding CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire House and Senate voted in support of HB 115 and SB 295, respectively. Both bills eliminate eligibility requirements for the state’s unaccountable private school voucher program and institute a universal voucher scheme that would divert millions of public dollars from public schools to subsidize private education for wealthy families. During the public hearing process on this bill, 3,165 Granite Staters signed in to oppose universal vouchers and just […]

PRESS RELEASE: NH House Passes Bill to Force School Spending Caps Against Local Voters’ Will

CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire House voted 190-185 in support of HB 675. As amended, this bill would place an arbitrary cap on school district budgets based on inflation and enrollment trends—regardless of real costs like teacher salaries, special education services, or rising utility bills. The vote on HB 675 comes just after School District Election and Meeting Day in which communities overwhelmingly rejected petition warrant articles to institute local per pupil spending caps. After Kearsarge Regional voters defeated the first spending cap initiative in January, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne stated: “Perhaps, if they are unwilling to […]

3/7/25: NEA-NH Legislative Update

IMPORTANT: Town and School Meetings!  Many New Hampshire communities will be convening in March, and specifically the next week, for town and school elections and annual meetings. Don’t miss your opportunity to vote for local leaders who will protect public education, support budgets that support our students, and approve educator contracts. To find out information about your community, contact your town clerk – and then make a plan to vote!  House and Senate Floor Votes on Vouchers, Forced Spending Cap and Parental Rights Next Week!  SB 295 & HB 115 – Act Now to Stop Universal Vouchers!  ACTION REQUESTED: Contact […]

PRESS RELEASE: ACLU and NEA Sue U.S. Department of Education Over Unlawful Attack on Educational Equity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 5, 2025 CONCORD, N.H. – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of New Hampshire, the ACLU of Massachusetts, the National Education Association (NEA), and the National Education Association–New Hampshire, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire, against the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The lawsuit challenges the Department of Education’s Feb. 14, 2025, Dear Colleague Letter, which threatens federal funding cuts for education institutions nationwide for engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts; and a 14-day window before “appropriate measures” would be taken.  The lawsuit argues that ED has overstepped its legal authority by: […]