Support Our Public Schools - Oppose Universal Vouchers!
Take action to oppose Republican efforts to expand the school voucher program to all families. Republican legislators wish to remove all income restrictions. They are fast tracking this bill in hopes that it gets less focus. Please take action ideally by Wednesday evening but no later than Thursday.
OPPOSE HB115-FN, relative to universal eligibility for the education freedom account program. This bill removes the household income criteria from eligibility requirements for school vouchers.
ACT BY THURSDAY:
Sign into the House Remote Testimony tool to voice your support
Enter your personal information.
Select:
Thursday, January 16th on the calendar
House Education Funding
1:00 pm - HB115
I am a member of the public.
I am representing myself
Click: "I oppose this bill", then hit the submit button at the bottom of the form. Adding remote testimony is suggested. It will help make your case. If you need further directions, they can be found here.
Other Advocacy Steps You Can Take:
Attend the session at the statehouse at 1PM on Thursday and have your voice heard in person. This is the most impactful action to take.
Email members of the committee directly to voice your opposition. Send your email to the House Education Committee Clerk State Rep. Pam Brown and request that she please share it with all committee members. Her email is Pam.Brown@leg.state.nh.us.
Talking Points:
HB115 removes income caps for school vouchers, directing more money away from our communities' public schools.
Expanding school voucher eligibility to all students, regardless of family income, could cost the state approximately $102 million in the 2025-2026 school year, according to a new study by Reaching Higher New Hampshire.
Low and middle income taxpayers would be paying for private and parochial schools for the wealthy.
Even with the current income restrictions, over 77% of families using vouchers never had their children enrolled in public schools.
Independent studies have found that outcomes for participation in similar school voucher programs in other states are, at best, mixed. More recent studies have suggested that these programs have had significant negative effects on student outcomes for the students who participate in them and have diverted funding from public schools. Researchers have stated that school vouchers “cause catastrophic academic harm” and have had a worse impact on student outcomes than any other policy or event in public school history, including the global pandemic.
The current voucher program provides little accountability and measurement of performance metrics and other critical data. The NH Department of Education (NHED) is under growing scrutiny for refusing to provide key program data to state auditors. The NHED contracted out the administration and management of the voucher program to the Children’s Scholarship Fund in 2021. As part of the contract, the NHED limited the data that the Fund is required to share with the agency and the state regarding key performance metrics, spending metrics, and other critical data.
The NHED performed a compliance review of 50 total voucher accounts over two years, and found that 25% of them were missing information, including unverified residency and inaccurate income reporting. The Fund will be required to pay the state back for several of the accounts that were awarded in error.
Efforts to increase transparency and tighten monitoring of the program have been killed by Republicans every year since the program’s inception.
Thank you to Reaching Higher NH for talking points. They are hosting a Zoom webinar with information on this legislation at noon on Tuesday. You may register here. More of their analysis on the vouchers can be found here.
Senate Republicans propose bill to reallocate NH's electoral votes
OPPOSE SB11, relative to the allocation of electoral college votes. This bill apportions the state's presidential electors so that 2 at-large presidential electors shall cast their ballots for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates who received the highest number of votes in the state, and congressional district presidential electors shall cast their ballots for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates who received the highest number of votes in their respective congressional districts.
Background:
New Hampshire's Senate Republicans are talking about major changes to how New Hampshire allocates its electoral votes for president by looking to split the state's electoral votes.
Currently (and historically), New Hampshire's electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote.
SB11 would reapportion the Granite State's electoral votes, granting two at-large electors to the winner of the statewide popular vote and then one each to the winner of the popular vote for president in Congressional District 1 and Congressional District 2.
Only two other states split their electoral votes: Maine and Nebraska.
Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka: "I think this is yet another example of the Republicans kind of trying to change the system to meet their needs. We know that our down-ballot maps are very gerrymandered, both in the House and the Senate. We won 49% of the vote, and yet we're in a superminority in the Senate. So, you know, I think it's time for the Republicans to kind of play fair and square."
Source: WMUR
ACT BY TUESDAY:
Sign into the Remote Sign-In tool to voice your opposition.
Select January 14th on the calendar.
Select the following:
Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs
9:30 am - SB11
I am a member of the public.
I am representing myself.
Click: "I oppose this bill", then hit the continue button at the bottom of the form.
Enter your personal information and hit continue again.
Review the information then submit. The final screen will provide you with information to submit written testimony if desired.