State legislators are proclaiming that one-size-fits-all education isn’t suitable for all children. That’s pretty ironic, given that the state systematically adopted a series of uniform mandates on curriculum frameworks, competency grading, behavior modification, and even restorative justice discipline to create a one-size-fits-all adequate education. Now, legislators are trying to somehow “save” our children by letting them attend classes in another public school in any district across the state.
Please ask your state representatives to slow down and think about Open Enrollment before voting.
Don’t just agree to last-minute changes made to a non-germane bill, HB 751, which may come to the House floor as soon as Thursday, February 12th, with a “concurrence vote ” without debate or roll call.
The Senate is trying to fast-track its bill. They want to prevent local school districts from voting against students leaving their districts under this Open Enrollment program while they deliberate on their annual budgets. Many districts have already voted against this program. That is why these senators are in a mad dash to pass their bill.
Wait for SB 101 to crossover to the House in the normal manner. It has the same Open Enrollment language. The public will get another public hearing to discuss their concerns before a final vote is required.
Legislators claim that 46 other states have Open Enrollment. Those states provide 60% or more of public school funding from the state. A direct comparison of the local budgetary impact is not possible. NH public schools are 60-70% funded by local property taxes.
With Open Enrollment, districts pay twice, once in their approved budget, and then they must find another 80% of the per-pupil cost to send to the receiving district. Open Enrollment costs the district 1.8 times the average cost per pupil. Is this fair to local taxpayers?
Only 1-2% of students are expected to transfer under an Open Enrollment program, so why undermine locally-funded district budgets for a few students? Where’s the crisis?
Legislators cite a court decision which equated a school district’s responsibility for funding special education students attending school elsewhere to the Open Enrollment program. Not every district has the professionals required to service a highly disabled child. It may send a child to a facility which can provide those specialized services. With Open Enrollment, all districts provide the same state required “adequate” education. There is no substantive need to transfer an “ordinary” student to another district.
How is Open Enrollment different from Open Borders? Instead of entering a district through the front door, by switching districts, which was our constitutional right to do until the state prohibited it, the state is allowing students to sneak through a back door to attend classes in a new district, while forcing parents to continue to fund and vote in their old district, which they don’t necessarily favor. How does that build stronger communities?
State legislators think this is a free market solution as it will allow the “best” districts to win more students. If parents could stop funding and actually leave their assigned district, then funding actually would follow the child without adversely affecting districts. But under this contrived Open Enrollment solution, budgets will be busted because districts cannot slice off a portion of their funding to send to another district after it’s allocated and contracts are signed.
Only more affluent families will benefit. Only such families can afford to pay the tuition differential between districts and have the time/money to transport their child to a different district.
Open Enrollment is similar to the Education Freedom Accounts, EFAs. They were marketed as helping poor students escape bullying and under-performing school districts, but they primarily fund more affluent families, whose children already attend private schools. 96.7% of EFA recipients were already attending private schools or home education. The less affluent families’ children were left behind, stuck in their public schools. It’ll be the same with Open Enrollment.
