CONCORD, NH – Today, the Senate voted 14-10 in support of SB 101, an open enrollment bill that would upend New Hampshire’s current law by mandating all school districts adopt an application and transfer process to allow non-resident students from other New Hampshire school districts to enroll in their schools. Republican senators Denise Ricciardi and Darryl Abbas joined all Senate Democrats to oppose SB 101. This bill next goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
Additionally, today, the New Hampshire Senate voted 16-8 in support of HB 751 as amended [2026-0297s] to mandate open enrollment. This amendment preempts local school district efforts to comply with the current law at their March annual meetings. This bill next goes to the House for a concurrence vote; if the House concurs with the Senate amendment, it will go to the Governor’s desk.
Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, released the following statement:
“As educators, we believe every student deserves access to a high-quality education in their community. Unfortunately, New Hampshire’s current education funding system has created communities of haves and have nots.
The State of New Hampshire’s chronic underfunding of public education from state coffers and overreliance on property taxpayer dollars means that students in different schools don’t receive the same opportunities to learn. State mandated open enrollment doesn’t fix that issue, or those pre-existing inequities—it exacerbates them. Mandatory open enrollment will create chaos in school funding and result in more resources being taken out of under-resourced schools to subsidize out-of-district education, leaving fewer resources in district to support the students who are left behind.
NEA-New Hampshire strongly urges the House of Representatives and Governor Ayotte to reject mandatory open enrollment.”
Background:
- While New Hampshire ranks in the Top 10 for public education funding, nationwide New Hampshire is 50th when it comes to the state portion.
- NH School District Data: Your Town - NH School Funding Fairness Project
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