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In Case You Missed It, The New Hampshire Bulletin published a piece providing current updates on the multi-front war on public education NH GOP lawmakers have engaged in, and multiple pieces of legislation by Democratic lawmakers to push back on the most harmful aspects of those laws.GOP lawmakers reject attempts to change education freedom accounts, 'divisive concepts' law – New Hampshire Bulletin
NH Bulletin’s reporting covered legislation designed to keep the NH GOP’s highly controversial voucher program in check. The voucher program has been confirmed as much as 5000% over budget by Sununu’s Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, himself a champion of the program. Cost overruns for the program are provided for at the expense of local taxpayers. The reporting also covered efforts to repeal the racist “divisive concepts” legislation, which threatens state educators with professional and legal consequences for teaching topics such as racism and sexism. Lawsuits have been filed by both of New Hampshire’s largest teachers unions and ACLU NH against the original divisive concepts legislation.
Key Excerpts:
Amid the 33 education bills that churned through the House during its three-day session last week, a majority dealt with the education freedom accounts. Most of those came from Democrats hoping to change the program.
In another attempt, House Bill 1355, Democrats proposed requiring the CSF to refer cases of misuse of funds to the state Attorney General’s Office. Republicans said the law could penalize families that made mistakes. The law was struck down.
…the House rejected an attempt to require that the education providers be in operation for at least a year before accepting education freedom account funding, with Republicans arguing the bill ignored the uses of the freedom accounts that did not involve schools, such as tutors and therapists.
As House Republicans have blocked efforts to restrain the education freedom account program, they have also defended another sweeping change added last year: a ban on certain concepts around race and structural oppression being taught in K-12 schools.
… lawmakers killed House Bill 1638, which would require families to take grievances against teachers under the new law to the teacher’s superintendent before taking it to court or to the state’s Commission for Human Rights. And they voted down House Bill 1080, an attempt by Democrats to repeal the entire statute.”
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