Stop Sununu from
Defunding Public Education
The Issue: Sununu and New Hampshire Republicans have made attacks on public education a central aspect of their legislative and campaign priorities.
Last year, Governor Sununu, New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, and the increasingly radical right Republican legislators controlling our State House launched a reckless school voucher scheme that is already wildly over budget. This scheme takes money from our public schools and gives it to out-of-state vendors, private and religious schools, and homeschoolers. This school voucher program - which has been called one of the most expensive and expansive school voucher programs in the country - is over budget by $8 million in its first year.
As we head into the second year of the scheme with more students enrolled, the financial impact on the state is growing and it could cost New Hampshire up to $70 million in just three years. In addition to the exorbitant costs, the Republican contrived program will weaken public school systems and increase local property taxes.
Watch this video to learn how the Republican's school voucher program negatively impacts your property taxes while siphoning money from communities' public schools.
Vote for Democrats! New Hampshire deserves better. Vote for change and support strong public schools in the Granite State.
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Democrats will stand up for strong public schools, which also serve as vital community hubs.
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Supporting teachers is crucial to strong public schools.
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Taxpayer dollars belong in our public schools, servicing ALL of New Hampshire’s children, and out of the pockets of for-profit private vendors and religious schools.
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The dismantling of public education is wrong for the Granite State. In New Hampshire, we believe in fairness. No matter where we live or what our background is, access to a strong public education helps level the playing field. Every child in NH should have a safe place to learn and thrive, regardless of race, religion, ability, or zip code. Each and every child has the opportunity to succeed, achieve, and live the American Dream.
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Strong public schools will make New Hampshire a leader in tomorrow’s talented, well-educated labor pool, creating responsible, prepared community members and attracting new businesses and jobs to the Granite State.
Background:
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Governor Sununu, along with Republican members of the Executive Council, appointed far-right extremist Frank Edelblut to the role of Education Commissioner. Edelblut has made repeated attacks against New Hampshire public schools and educators.
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New Hampshire Republicans, funded by out-of-state billionaire Libertarian extremists, have a radical goal of dismantling and shutting down New Hampshire’s public education system. Their attacks on public education are a central aspect of their legislative and campaign priorities. Their strategies include:
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Diverting public dollars to private schools and individuals
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Censuring classrooms
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Vilifying teachers and educators
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Increasing regulatory burdens
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Diluting curriculum
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Fueling parental discontent
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Fighting public health protections in our schools
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The school voucher program uses state property tax dollars to fund religious and wealthy private schools instead of local public schools and is already $8 million over budget.
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New Hampshire ranks dead last in the nation for state education funding, yet this school voucher program only serves to shift even more funding away from public schools to subsidize private schools, and the recipients of the vouchers are largely comprised of private religious schools.
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Unlike public schools, private institutions may exclude students based on gender, religion, ability, or income.
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While the program is marketed as a way to help Granite State students go to a new school, nearly 90% of the students using New Hampshire’s voucher program were already attending private schools or were being homeschooled prior to receiving individual state funding. Only 204 of the 1800 students who entered the program were enrolled in a public school the year prior.
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In order to continue to fund vital school programs such as school buses, academic programs, and even teacher salaries, many towns could soon be forced to raise your local property taxes to replace lost revenue the state will be sending to private schools and homeschoolers.
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A UNH Survey Center Poll found that almost half of all Granite Staters oppose school vouchers yet Governor Sununu has shown no intention of changing his policy. Sununu and Edelblut have put far-right politics ahead of New Hampshire’s students for far too long.
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In addition to the expensive and destructive school voucher program, the NH GOP, controlled by radical right extremists, have spent the past 2 years trying to:
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Dissolve and repeal our cooperative school districts - limiting the ability of small towns to share resources (HB1679).
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Turn our whole state into the Croydon debacle, taking advantage of our small town processes and allowing for a small minority to enact damaging budget caps that require a supermajority vote to be overturned (HB1393).
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Create a teacher “loyalty bill” that expands the ban on teaching true and accurate history (HB1255).
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Force a confusing banned concepts law into our budget that punishes teachers for teaching about racial or gender discrimination (HB2).
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Change the youth risk behavior survey in schools from opt-out to opt-in, decreasing the value of the survey by reducing participation (HB1639).
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Gut core curriculum with an aim to removing Arts, PE, Computer Science, Languages and Engineering from the definition of an adequate education (HB1671).
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Require teachers and guidance counselors to "out" LGBTQ+ youth to their parents, regardless of the child's home situation (HB1431).
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Force criminal penalties if districts do not provide curriculum to parents on demand (HB1072).
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Extend the reckless, bloated voucher scheme to wealthy NH families by raising income eligibility levels (HB1298).
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Watch and share this video to learn why New Hampshire’s school voucher scheme is so exorbitantly expensive and wrong for Granite Staters.
"When you hear Republicans promote their 'school choice' and 'education freedom' program, remember what it is. A new, rapidly growing tax on Granite Staters to subsidize people already paying for private and religious education." - House Minority Leader David Cote
Read this article by longtime NH political journalist Garry Rayno and learn why school vouchers are only the beginning for the radical right. The Free Staters and other extreme Libertarians currently controlling our State House have the ultimate goal to make government much smaller, which they hope to accomplish by disrupting traditional public education with lower cost, less regulated for-profit, alternative programs.
