Giving voters a voice by empowering elected school district officials to reclaim control over budgets and curriculum.
We’ve been exercising our voice. On September 29, the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Biden, ” [o]n behalf of our state associations and the more the 90,000 school board members…” The letter called on the “U.S. Department of Justice, Federa;l Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and its National Threat Assessment Center… ” AND the U.S. Postal Service to address unruly parents are school board meetings.
“As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of the heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” The shocking NSBA letter is here.
State school board associations came to realize that not a single one of them had been consulted about this letter to President Biden. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, some NSBA board members weren’t aware of this letter either. Caught in a lie and a political maelstrom, the NSBA retracted the letter, but the disgrace doesn’t stop there. Freedom of Information requests revealed prior weeks long coordinated effort between Washington and the NSBA. See the SDGA’s press release on this:
Gmail_SDGANH_Denounces_NSBA_Call_to_View_Dissident_Parents_as_Akin_to_Terrorists.01The SDGA also voiced its dismay over Governor Sununu’s inappropriate remarks to Education Commissioner Edelblut, and the Governor’s false and derogatory characterization of NH’s Government Integrity Project. Letter to Governor Sununu and the Executive Council is here.
In other news… Member Tim Galitski is spearheading an SDGA study of educational duties in select school districts. So far we have approached Exeter Cooperative School District and Timberlane Regional School District. We ask for records of curricula approvals by the board and board discussion of academic achievement of those approved curricula.
— Upcoming SDGA events —
Webinar: Don’t Violate the Law. Learn the Open Meeting Laws
November 8: Right to Know NH President, David Saad, will return to give us a presentation about the laws around public meetings and non-public sessions.
Registration is free but required in order to receive a Zoom invitation. Register here.
Webinar: How Local Initiatives Can Win Back Control of Budgets and Boards
January 10, 2022: SDGA member Annie Collyer will tell the inspiring true story of how she organized a grassroots town taxpayers group to take control of the school district budget and ended up getting control of the school board as well.
Registration is free but required in order to receive a Zoom invitation. Register here.
Upcoming Board Meeting
***Saturday, November 6*** 9 am – 11-30 am
This regular board meeting is via Zoom. Open to all members. If you wish to attend, email me for a live Zoom link invitation. SDGAofNH@gmail.com
Items of Interest
NH Department of Education has released 2020-21 statewide assessment data. The state average in math proficiency dropped from 48% to 32%, and reading proficiency dropped from 56% to 52%. This compares the current academic year to two years ago because statewide testing was not conducted last year.
The depth of the Critical Race Theory problem in our government schools is hard to underestimate, as is the difficulty in uncovering it. SDGA members will find this article of great interest, as will champions of government transparency and parental rights.
As a result of the National School Boards Associations’ request for federal involvement with parents unhappy with their school boards, Arizona has formed an independent state school board association, not unlike the SDGANH. https://www.azcoalition.org/training-and-development Perhaps an entirely parallel but hugely better coalition of independent school board associations may form one day. One organization’s crisis is another’s opportunity.
SDGA Legislative News
Our two bills have been filed with the House of Representatives thanks to two sterling legislators. Representative Diane Pauer ( Hillsborough – District 26) is the lead sponsor for our bill authorizing district voters to cap budgets based on enrollment. Representative Erica Layon (Derry) is championing our other bill to require all things that materially affect curriculum to be voted by the school board.
The SDGA will be asking members to write emails in support of these bills when they go before committees for deliberation. Even better would be in-person testimony, which a few have committed to doing. The call will go out in January to marshal our forces in support of these education changing bills.
SDGA Candidates Pledge
Get your school board candidates to sign this pledge and let’s change the culture of our schools! Spread this pledge far and wide!
I, _________________________, PLEDGE TO THE VOTERS OF ____________________________
THAT I WILL DO MY UTMOST AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL TO
1) Promote education that cultivates in our children a profound respect for our nation’s founding principles and the U.S. and New Hampshire Constitutions;
2) Promote an academic program that teaches that all people are created equal and have equal rights and responsibilities under the law;
3) Prevent school faculty and staff from politicizing education, while respecting the free speech of individuals and the educator code of conduct;
4) Insist on maximal transparency to the public, including, but not limited to, curriculum, budgeting, grants, expenditures, bidding, academic outcomes, school environment, etc.;
5) Respect that parents are the ultimate authority of their children’s values, education, and well-being;
6) Pursue academic excellence through an academic program actively overseen by the elected representatives;
7) Advocate for reading, writing, and arithmetic as foundational to academic advancement;
8) Treat all academic program innovations or changes with healthy skepticism;
9) Represent the residents of the school district by responding to questions, being prudent in budgeting, and holding administration and faculty accountable to those residents;
10) Hold administrators and staff accountable when they fail to uphold these standards.
Get Involved in SDGA
We are looking for two volunteers to propose revisions to our by-laws. This would involve 2-3 Zoom meetings and no more than five hours. Work must be completed no later than January 30, 2022. Sounds boring but it won’t be!
We are also looking for someone to invigorate our Facebook presence by posting articles of interest and initiating topics of discussion.
Help us with outreach: Please invite us to introduce ourselves to your local school board. Are you involved in groups interested in school-related issues? Invite us to speak!
Join us: Dues are $20 annually, which we’ll ask you for after we process your application. Fill out an application. You can also consider a Lifetime membership for $200. SDGANH is funded exclusively through membership fees, seminar receipts and fund raising activity. (New members who joined in the last quarter of the previous year have their membership carried forward to the end of the next year.)
Renew your membership: Renew your yearly membership here. Thank you for your continuing support!
Make a donation: We run on a shoestring, and every little bit helps.
Members are encouraged to join the SDGA Facebook group to see events and announcements and to have discussions about them. The SDGA Facebook page shows our announcements only.
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Warm best,
Donna Green
President, School District Governance Association
SDGAofNH@gmail.com
