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NEA-NH Press Releases and Statements

NEA-NH Response to State Board of Education Rules Governing Temporary Transition to Remote Learning During Community-Wide COVID Outbreak

Published on January 13, 2022 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of what Governor Sununu said was not even the highest surge New Hampshire will see from Omicron. School districts across the state are struggling with staffing shortages as the number of cases climbs higher than ever. While educators, parents and health care professionals are focused on keeping our children and families healthy and safe, Commissioner Edelblut and the State Board of Education are focused on penalizing school districts for making the difficult decision to temporarily switch to remote instruction during a community-wide outbreak,”

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NEA-New Hampshire Welcomes Today’s Vote to Table HB 607

Published on January 6, 2022 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

“Today’s vote to table HB 607 is a bi-partisan acknowledgement of the reality that the majority of Granite Staters believe we should be investing in our public schools, not defunding them to pay private, religious, and home school expenses,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-NH President. If passed, HB 607 will drive MASSIVE property tax increases to pay private school tuition. The continued push by certain politicians to defund public schools with bills like HB 607 hurts our students’ chances to succeed now, and later in life. “The recently enacted voucher

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NEA-New Hampshire Sues Edelblut and State Over Divisive Concepts Law

Published on December 20, 2021 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

ACLU, LARGEST TEACHERS’ UNION NEA-NH, LEADING DISABILITY AND LGBTQ+ ADVOCACY GROUPS, AND NH LAW FIRMS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NH CLASSROOM CENSORSHIP LAW “Banned concepts” law unconstitutionally chills discourse on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity in schools and public workplaces Lawsuit brought by two NH diversity, equity, and inclusion school administrators and teachers’ union NEA-NH CONCORD, N.H. – A diverse group of educators, advocacy groups, and law firms filed a federal lawsuit today challenging a New Hampshire classroom censorship law, contained within state budget bill HB2, which

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NEA-NH Supports AFT’s Legal Action to Ensure Every Child Has Access to a Quality Public Education

Published on December 13, 2021 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

CONCORD, NH – December 13, 2021 – New Hampshire educators want to provide every child an accurate and quality education that imparts honesty about who we are and integrity in how we treat others. Certain politicians want to censor the truth of our history and ban us from learning from the mistakes of our past. “We agree with our colleagues at AFT that the divisive concepts law is flawed, and we support their efforts to advocate for students in court,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-New Hampshire President. From the time the

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To Some NH Politicians, Loyalty Means Silence

Published on December 3, 2021 by gstrout in HCR, Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

Representatives Lekas, Layon, Cordelli, and Ammon have introduced HB 1255 to “expand the prohibition on teacher advocacy of subversive doctrines.” Digging back to a New Hampshire Teacher Loyalty law that prohibits educators from advocating communism as a political doctrine, they added prohibitions on advocating “any doctrine or theory promoting a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States of America” including teaching that “the United States was founded on racism.” For good measure they also propose that “a violation of this section shall be considered

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This American Education Week the Word of the Day is Unrelenting

Published on November 16, 2021 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

Unrelenting: not yielding in strength, severity, or determination. That’s the word I think best describes the situation we find ourselves in this American Education Week. The mutating virus, the angry pressure applied on our local elected officials by a small, vocal, misinformed segment of our society, the attacks on public education and those who provide it, and now the bounty placed on New Hampshire educators – all unrelenting. Also unrelenting however is our dedication and devotion to our students, our desire to safely remain in our classrooms, and the creativity

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NEA-NH Calls on Governor Sununu to Swiftly Denounce State Sanctioned Bounty Hunters and Repeal Banned Concepts Law

Published on November 12, 2021 by gstrout in Legislative Action, NH Public Education, Releases

CONCORD, NH – NOVEMBER 12, 2021 – In response to the offering of monetary bounties by political allies of Governor Sununu’s Education Commissioner in return for targeting educators over the new banned concepts law, NEA-NH is calling on Governor Sununu to denounce this vigilante tactic and urge the Legislature to repeal this disaster of a law. Politicians like Commissioner Edelblut who pushed for this ban don’t think children deserve an honest and accurate education bear responsibility for this type of repugnant activity. “We want our kids to have an education

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New Hampshire Educators Believe Distance Learning Should be a Last-Resort District Decision

Published on November 10, 2021 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

Proposed new State Board of Education rule sends message that the health and safety of students and educators not a priority. CONCORD, NH – NOVEMBER 10, 2021 – NEA-NH submitted a letter to the State Board of Education to consider as they addressed proposed rule changes to exclude the use of distance learning in cases of school-wide COVID outbreaks. “Our members view this proposal as far too limiting on local school districts and respectfully request that the Board consider withdrawing their proposal or making substantial changes in order to

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NEA-NH Recommends Education Champion Hilliard for Somersworth Mayor

Published on October 25, 2021 by gstrout in Legislative Update, NH Public Education, Releases

CONCORD, NH – OCTOBER 25, 2021- During his time as Mayor of Somersworth, Mayor Hilliard has used his voice as an elected leader to fight for more funding for public education and partnered with NEA-NH to expose school voucher schemes that threaten to damage our kids’ education and raise property taxes. Mayor Hilliard’s track record as a leader in this regard has earned him the support of NEA-NH, the only statewide organization that represents the Hilltop city’s educators. “We’ve always maintained that educator voices should be heard as decisions are

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Southside Middle School Wins California Casualty’s 2021 Music and Arts Grant

Published on October 8, 2021 by gstrout in NH Public Education, Releases

San Mateo, CA, October 7, 2021 – After careful consideration of nearly 500 applications, California Casualty has designated 142 schools throughout the country as 2021 Music and Arts Grant awardees. “We are excited to announce that this year, we are awarding a 2021 California Casualty Music & Art Grant to NEA-NH Member Regina McGuiggin from Southside Middle School in Manchester,” said Amy Grosso from California Casualty. “She is among 142 grants being awarded in 29 states. She will receive $250 to help purchase much needed art supplies for their program.”

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NEA-NH: Today’s Adoption of Lax Voucher Rules Another Example of Fiscal Malpractice and Failed Leadership

Published on August 27, 2021 by gstrout in NH Public Education, Releases

CONCORD, NH – August 27, 2011 – Today’s vote by the State Board of Education to adopt lax oversight rules for the massive voucher expansion recently signed into law by Governor Sununu puts New Hampshire on an accelerated and dangerous path to defund our public schools. One that consistently ends poorly in states that have passed similar laws. Private schools in Florida now rake in close to $1 billion a year in public money. A voucher scheme like the one recently enacted here in New Hampshire is responsible for this

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NEA-NH Announces Support for Educator Vaccine and Testing Requirement

Published on August 13, 2021 by gstrout in NH Public Education, Releases

CONCORD, NH – August 13, 2021 – The NEA-New Hampshire Executive Board met today and voted with no dissent to support the statement published yesterday by the National Education Association regarding required vaccines for educators. “As a Board, we agree with NEA’s rationale and conclusions, and voted to adopt them as our own,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-New Hampshire President. The NEA Statement appears below: National Education Association President Becky Pringle issued the following statement today announcing NEA’s support for requirements that all educators receive a COVID-19 vaccination or submit to

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