Republican Hypocrisy- Republican Legislation Erodes Local Control

Much Republican legislation this cycle is focused on removing local control to steamroll through their harmful agenda  - whether its culture wars, dismantling public education bit by bit, or misguided health related practices, and more. 

This week's Action Item is focused on a trio of Republican-sponsored bills which erode local control, a value Republicans used to claim they valued. Please contact all your State Representatives by Tuesday and ask them to OPPOSE the 3 bills outlined below. 

Act by Tuesday: Contact your State Representatives and ask them to OPPOSE the 3 bills outlined below. You may look up contact information for your Reps here.

• Tell your State Representatives that you are a constituent and you consider voting records at election time. 

• Your email subject line should include reference to being a constituent. Example: [Your Town] Constituent: Vote to Oppose [Bill Number]. 

• Short emails are more effective. State your request and just a few talking points, put into your own words, or a personal story. 

NOTE: When using talking points to add written testimony, please take an extra minute or two to put your testimony into your own words rather than copying and pasting. There are many legislators that will discount written testimony if they see it is exactly the same as that received by others. Thank you!

• OPPOSE HB324-FN, relative to prohibiting obscene or harmful sexual materials in schools.
  
  Rep. Peggy Balboni (D-Rye) for the Minority of Education Policy and Administration: This bill is another attempt to ban books from school libraries by restricting access to controversial materials. It dictates a prescriptive complaint process which allows the State Board of Education to make the final decision as to whether or not specific items must be removed. It contains vague and subjective language to determine what is “harmful to minors,” expands criminal liability to K-12 educators, and allows school districts to be subject to civil lawsuits. This legislation is not needed and will intimidate educators from retaining certain items in their library collections. NH law already prevents the dissemination of harmful materials to minors. Moreover, schools have policies in place to explain how materials are chosen for their libraries, as well as procedures to address parental complaints regarding books and media. Certified school professionals review materials to ensure that students have wide access to a diverse collection of topics, typically sorted by reading level. Parents may have different opinions about what is offensive or age-appropriate. They have the right to review any collection item and opt out their child from anything they find objectionable. But while parents can decide what materials their child can access, they do not have the right to determine which materials are available for other students. That is censorship. Every community is different. School library collections in Berlin may look different from those in Dover. Our local school boards are elected by the residents of their school districts and are responsible for developing policies to address the needs of their individual communities. They are, and should be, the final arbitrator for all school complaints regarding the appropriateness of library material, not the State Board of Education.

• OPPOSE HB361,prohibiting mandatory mask policies in schools.
  This bill prohibits school boards and other public education agencies from adopting, enforcing, or implementing a policy that requires students or members of the public to wear a facial covering.
  
  Rep. Muriel Hall (D-Bow) for the Minority of Education Policy and Administration: This bill prohibits school districts and chartered public schools from adopting, enforcing, or implementing policies requiring facial coverings with limited exceptions.The minority opposes this bill as it overrides local control which is so essential.Used judiciously, medical science shows that masks are safe, valuable tools for preventing spread of infectious disease.We need individual districts to have the flexibility of recommending them if extreme circumstances occur.We have learned so much from the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mask recommendations followed by public school districts were based on the best information available at that time. While not perfect, the intent of masking was to best protect our public students from infection, to allow for more students and families to return to in-person instruction, and provide the safest environment for every- one in our public schools. This bill is a reaction to those pandemic-era health advisories and restrictions. It will eliminate the ability of local school districts to put in place practices, procedures, and policies to protect students and staff in the event of any future health emergencies, regardless of guidance being provided by state or local health officials. No one can predict what will happen in the future. Best practices in health, disease, and prevention continue to evolve based upon scientific advances.We need to continue to allow our local, elected school boards the freedom to respond to health emergencies according to the individual needs of their community, rather than remove options that could potentially be recommended by other local, state and federal health experts. The minority strongly recommends this bill be found Inexpedient to Legislate for the safety of our children and communities.

• OPPOSE HB741-FN,allowing parents to send their children to any school district they choose.
  This bill allows parents to send their children to public schools outside of their resident district.
  
  Rep. Muriel Hall (D-Bow) for the Minority of Education Policy and Administration: This bill would allow parents to send their children to any school district they choose.This would have a negative impact on local communities, school districts, and taxpayers.The minority believe open enrollment policies would weaken our public schools by eroding the foundation of community-based education while threatening the financial stability of our school districts and increasing disparities between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” The delivery of special education and transportation services would create additional challenges. This bill would make it extremely difficult for schools to plan budgets, hire staff, and maintain programs, as they rely on enrollment data and local property taxes to develop their budgets.Instead of prioritizing policies that promote open enrollment, we should focus on the principle of local control and the adequate funding of NH public schools.

  
  

You may watch House hearings live or recorded here. 
You may watch Senate hearings live or recorded here. 

Info Sourced from Hillsborough County Democratic Committee