Re-Cap: Book Ban, Unlicensed Part-Time Teacher, and Educator Code of Conduct Expansion Bills Headed to the Governor
It was a disappointing week at the State House. The New Hampshire Senate passed several bills we believe will have a negative impact on public education. After an administrative process, the book ban, unlicensed part-time teacher, and Educator Code of Conduct expansion bills will next go to Governor Ayotte’s desk. While that process does not have a set timeline, once a bill reaches her desk, Ayotte will have the option to sign or veto it – or it becomes law without her signature if she fails to act on it within five days of receiving the bill.
Now, all eyes are on the Governor as we urge her to veto these bills that would chip away at the foundation of public education in New Hampshire. Join us by calling Governor Ayotte at 603-271-2121 and asking her to veto HB 90, HB 235, and HB 324!
HB 90 – Unlicensed Part-Time Teacher Bill
While there was an effort to amend HB 90 to narrow its application to dual and concurrent enrollment classes, that amendment failed and the Senate passed the underlying bill. For several years, numerous concerns have been raised about legislation like HB 90 that seeks to permit unlicensed teachers in New Hampshire’s public schools. It could lower the quality of education that students receive and negatively impacts the education profession. For school districts with tighter budgets, this would only incentivize administrators to hire temporary fill-in educators rather than licensed teachers who are invested in the school community and their students.
HB 235 – Educator Code of Conduct Expansion
If signed into law by Governor Ayotte, this bill could give the NH Department of Education the ability to expand the Educator Code of Conduct to include an unknown set of responsibilities to parents (not just students as it does currently). Our concern is that the Department might try to place a completely unreasonable set of expectations on educators beyond what the legislature may have intended through the rulemaking process. The Educator Code of Conduct is also tied to state licensure and the ability of the DOE to investigate and act on educator licenses. Parents are already included in the school community section of the code so we will be telling Governor Ayotte there is no need to add further unknown responsibilities through state board of education rules.
HB 324 – Book Ban Bill that Criminalizes Educators
New Hampshire already has an objectionable materials law for our public schools which allows ANY parent to opt their child out of any required coursework, curriculum, or material. Like many culture war bills, HB 324 would go way beyond parental opt-out by potentially imposing one parent’s objections on others. Additionally, and perhaps most concerning, this bill imposes potential criminal and licensure penalties for educators in what is otherwise another vaguely established process written by national interests attempting to pass this cookie-cutter legislation in other states.
Join us to urge Kelly Ayotte to reject book bans by vetoing HB 324!
Senate Judiciary Holds Hearing on Subpoena Bill
HB 520, which has already passed the House, would allow the New Hampshire Department of Education hearings officer to issue a subpoena when carrying out investigations under the Educator Code of Conduct. As many have told the Legislature before, this authority is unnecessary because the Department has never demonstrated a situation where they have not been able to obtain information needed for such an investigation. We know Commissioner Edelblut has used the code of conduct as a weapon as part of his efforts to further the culture war agenda. Thank you to those who signed in and wrote in against this bill. The committee has not voted on the bill yet but may do so as early as next week so you can still contact the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask that they not expand this Department authority in this way unnecessarily.
Next Week – State Budget and Major Floor Votes
Next week the Senate Finance Committee will be hearing from more state agencies, including the Department of Education, as they continue to build their state budget proposal over the next couple of weeks. That means there is still time to tell your lawmakers that public dollars belong in public schools!
SB 72 – Parental Bill of Rights Floor Vote
The House and Senate will both be in session next week; the most consequential education bill on the docket will be the version of the so-called “parental bill of rights” being put forward in SB 72. While parents and educators already communicate well to support their students, some anti-public education and anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers want to insert their personal politics into these critical relationships. While the language of this bill has evolved throughout the session, recent changes include school staff’s obligations to answer certain kinds of questions and newly proposed restrictions on vaguely written consent regarding “health care services” that extends outside school walls.
SB 297 – Risk Pool Legislation Committee Work
The House Commerce subcommittee on insurance will be meeting again this week to go over SB 297, the bill proposing numerous changes to how public employee risk pools are regulated. We are anticipating a look at new language to move regulation of insurance risk pools from under the Secretary of State to the Department of Insurance. We will keep members updated on the status of this bill and what flags may get raised by proposing such a move once the language is made available.
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.