SB 341 – Bill Turning Educators into Surveillance Drones Targeting LGBTQ+ Students Defeated
Great news! This week, the New Hampshire House defeated SB 341, a bill 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 served only to turn school employees into student surveillance drones – all under the threat of licensure removal. It put educators in the middle of families without the opportunity to ensure they are doing no harm.
The House Indefinitely Postponed SB 341 by a vote of 185 – 176 which kills the bill but also protects against the Senate adding the contents of SB 341 to another piece of legislation they send over to the House. Thank you to all the members who emailed or called their state representative(s) to vote against what would have been a destructive law for students, educators, and parents.
HB 1312 – NEA-NH Opposed Vague Curriculum/Materials Parental Notification Bill at Hearing
While similar to SB 341, this bill approaches it from a slightly different angle and 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 on sex education and health classes. For example, if there is a book or math worksheet that contains any kind of scenario mentioning someone’s gender or orientation, does it then fall into a 2-week notice requirement? The bill also contains more vague language that is like other so-called parental rights legislation that puts educators in impossible positions in determining which actions or conversations could put them or a student in jeopardy when they are only trying to be a trusted adult at school.
At the hearing, NEA-NH testified against the bill along with numerous other organizations and members of the public. We expect the Senate Education Committee to vote on this bill next week so please write in to the committee and tell them this bill is unworkable for educators, unnecessary, and targets LGBTQ+ student learning.
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 public education funding debacles 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.
HB 1665 is now 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 they are facing immense pressure from anti-public education groups. If you haven’t already, it is so 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.