News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Jody Underwood 
Whenever I see legislation sponsored by Rep. Hope Damon, I wonder if she’s trying to be sneaky or if she’s just stupid. For example, not too long ago, Damon was prime sponsor on a bill to require homeschooled students to take standardized tests. The bill was so badly drafted, it provoked 500 independent home education … Read more
It’s been a while since Ian Underwood has published a Bare Minimum Book. And now we have two! Just in time for the holidays. Rethinking Fun in Education and Slouching Towards Concord. New book 1:Rethinking Fun in Education This third book in the Rethinking Education trilogy argues that schools have morphed into de facto community centers, in … Read more
The EdOpt Fair is coming to Keene this coming Monday! More than a dozen providers will be there for families to meet and learn about all the possibilities: RSVP if you’re an education provider in the region who is interested in having a table there, or if you simply want to get a reminder. We … Read more
EdOpt is hosting an EdOpt Fair this Monday, October 27, from 5-7:30 pm at the Candia Congregational Church, 1 South Road, Candia. The following providers will be there for families to meet and learn about all the possibilities: RSVP if you’re an education provider in the region who is interested in having a table there, … Read more
With the financial crisis in Claremont, families need education choices now more than ever. EdOpt is hosting an EdOpt Fair on Monday October 6, from 5-7 pm at the Claremont Savings Bank Community Center, 152 South St, Claremont. At least a dozen providers will be there for families to meet and learn about all the … Read more
Recent claims have caused confusion about EdOpt’s work and mission, and especially its terms of use. As a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping families explore education alternatives in New Hampshire, we want to clarify the facts. EdOpt follows terms of use. EdOpt uses a variety of tools, including AI-supported web searches, to gather publicly available … Read more
As I watch the Claremont school board hold hearings about its current challenges, a few thoughts occur to me over and over again.
In 2012, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Cedric King woke up from a coma in Afghanistan to discover that his legs had been amputated. Today, 8 years later, Cedric says if given the chance, he’d do it all over again. You’ll hear his story of finding tremendous growth in tragedy by relinquishing control and expectations. In … Read more
Mark Twain is supposed to have said, “Never argue with an idiot, they will only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” That’s how I feel about the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s decision on the ConVal case (and the Claremont cases, for that matter). Their reasoning is hard to follow, … Read more
I’ve recently had questions from quite a few people about how Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) work. During the conversations, they often mention that “the money follows the child” and “EFAs are saving money”. EFAs are one of many solutions for families for whom the default district school isn’t working. But families will be in a … Read more
A protest of the Education Options expo in Wolfeboro popped up on Facebook — see below. In fact, a representative from the Governor Wentworth Regional School District will have a table at the expo. I guess Bobbi didn’t know that. If you’re in the area, come support school choice by visiting our Education Options expo. … Read more
Since 2009, districts in New Hampshire have been allowed to participate in open enrollment. Very few, if any, have opted to do it. Suddenly, there are four bills this year to mandate for all districts what almost none of them seem to want. Under mandated open enrollment, public schools will be required to publish how … Read more
The Josiah Bartlett Center’s recent post by Drew Cline rightfully points out that reduced increases in school budgets are being called cuts, which is misleading. At the same time, Cline reports that increases in spending that come from Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) are actually savings, which is similarly misleading. In an emailed article I received … Read more
EdOpt’s first school choice expo of 2025 will take place in Weare on March 24. Explore all your education options, including private schools, micro schools, charter schools, learning centers, home education groups, and more! Whether you’re a family wanting to meet a varied set of education providers, a provider who wants a table, or a state rep or … Read more
Thanks to all of you who supported EdOpt during our inaugural year! We started Education Options in April. In July our website was ready and we got 501c3 status. We hosted or co-hosted 5 expos around the state in August and December. We have a rich set of education choices in New Hampshire, and that … Read more
Ian gave his presentation of his first book at PorcFest 2022. We got a bootleg video of that talk, and we’re making it available on the XIV book page. XIV was Bare Minimum Book’s first book, and it continues to be our best seller. Consider getting a copy as a gift for a like-minded friend! If … Read more
The following video features Sal Khan, creator of Kahn Academy, talking about his vision for the future of education. It’s six minutes long and worth watching. As mentioned in the video, Khan started an organization called SchoolHouse.world that has free online tutoring and supports group learning. His vision is to support the kind of interactive online teaching that … Read more
A few sentences into his recent piece in InDepthNH (and other places), Andru Volinsky demonstrates that he has no idea how the statewide education tax actually works, let alone how it should work. First, no one gets excused from paying anything. Every district collects the full SWEPT tax, spends it on adequacy, and applies … Read more
Education Options held our first two EdOpt Expos at the Richards Free Library in Newport in August. While there are many things for us to learn, we’re off to a good start. The best part was that all the attendees could point to something that they learned there. I know I was part of a … Read more
The first Education Options (EdOpt) expo is just over a week away, on Saturday Aug 10, from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Richards Free Library in Newport. There will be a number of tables where you can have one-on-one conversations with experts about different options for educating your children. Statewide resources will include: Regional resources … Read more