Releases

PRESS RELEASE: Bipartisan NH Senate Vote Moves SB 217 Forward to Establish a Rural and Underserved Area Educator Incentive Program for Higher Education 

CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire Senate passed SB 217-FN on a voice vote, to create a student loan forgiveness program for educators who work in rural and underserved areas. This initiative would help rural school districts recruit and retain educators by providing up to $12,000 for public school educators to pay off their college loans. The bill next goes to Senate Finance for further consideration.  Student debt assistance is one recommendation contained in a recently released legislative report that identified contributing factors to New Hampshire’s teacher shortage and outlined findings to address the crisis.   Megan Tuttle, President of […]

A photo of the New Hampshire State House dome.

NEA-NH Responds to School Funding Related Rulings

CONCORD, NH – Today, the State of New Hampshire Superior Court issued decisions on the education adequacy aid and the SWEPT tax cases. Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire, provided this statement in response:“Today’s rulings confirm what we have known all along – the state of New Hampshire has failed to adequately fund public education, instead downshifting costs to local communities. While we are encouraged by this recognition of the current inadequate funding scheme, we know this is just one more step in the long process of truly adequately funding public education in our state to ensure all students have […]

NEA-NH Responds to Voucher Program Update: Majority of Granite State Families Trust and Support Their Neighborhood Public Schools

Yesterday, an update on the state voucher program was provided by the NewHampshire Department of Education. Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire, provided this statement in response:“This update on the state voucher program confirms what we already knew–the vast majority ofGranite State families trust and support their neighborhood public schools. Commissioner Edelblut has focused his energy on a small sliver of the population that wasnever in public schools when we need state leaders to focus on the real issue: the underfundingof New Hampshire’s public education system that disadvantages students, leads to educatorshortages, and burdens property taxpayers. There are many, proven […]

NEA-NH Statement on This Week’s Supreme Court Rulings

Citing the United States Supreme Court cases decided this week allowing for businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ citizens, eliminating affirmative action in higher education admissions, and disallowing President Biden’s student loan debt relief, NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle said today, “This Court is out of step with a majority of Americans.” “As New Hampshire faces a shortage of teachers and support staff, the state is struggling to establish policies that attract people into the profession and his ruling shrinks the pool of potential educators.” NEA-NH believes that educators and education employees should look like the communities where they work. The Court […]

NEA-NH: While Still Lacking, Budget Contains Items We Can Support

Today, the House voted to concur with the budget passed yesterday by the Senate. “NEA-NH believes that budgets should reflect our shared priorities by funding critical programs that serve our students, especially those most in need,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-NH President. “While there are many needs the Legislature must still address, the budget approved today by the General Court contains items that we support, such as increased funding for many districts chronically impacted by our state’s inadequate school funding formula, a long overdue boost to educators’ retirement, and a start to addressing the shortage of educators in New Hampshire,” said […]