What Did We Learn From The Universal School Choice Hearing

by Amanda Weeden

What did we learn from the Universal School Choice HB115 hearing? More importantly, WHY do I, as a Veteran Home Educator and Home Education Advocate in NH, care so much? Well, folks, I’ll tell you.

The politics of this thing are ugly.

Education Freedom Accounts and “School Choice” are ideas that Republicans nationwide invented in order to tackle the very real spending issue we have with the Public School System. It’s a nationwide agenda for Republicans, and since I am one, it’s particularly disturbing that the baseline positions of personal responsibility and small government are completely missing from the conversations. Folks who stick their necks out regularly on other issues, expressly for the purpose of preserving personal rights and liberty, have jumped on the big government train with the Education “Freedom” Account (EFA) in NH. More peculiar is the jump on the big government train by “Liberty Republicans,” whatever that means, since no one can seem to reconcile the “liberty” part with their EFA support without extreme compromise.

HB115 would remove the income guidelines from the EFA program. To summarize and cut through years of half-truths and propaganda surrounding the push for universal EFAs, it means that every school-aged child would be eligible for the EFA, as well as Kindergartners. Kindergarten isn’t required in NH, and this is a step towards making it required. I’m against this. This government, taxpayer-funded, educational pathway is a step back into the pit of big government for Home Educators. I’m against this. It’s not *your* taxpayer money, it’s not “my tax money follows my child,” and it’s certainly not “more educational freedom” for Home Educators. You might have listened to politicians or people who likely gain power and/or money who say such things; I’m telling you that these are carefully formulated half-truths. What do I know, eh?

The EFA program as it is right now, to “help” lower-income families, was pitched as such. It couldn’t pass a straight vote, so it was attached to a budget bill. Even Republicans were wary, and with good reason. The introduction of more government into private schools and home education homes was, and is, risky. In an effort to “give parents the freedom to choose” and “open up the schoolhouse doors” Republicans have repeated the same mistake that perpetuated the very same problems they claim to “fix.”  Government oversight, regulations, rules, definitions, databases, qualifications and CONTROL is *NOT* more freedom. I actually agree with a carefully written, meticulously enacted tax credit program but the NH EFA is neither.

I was in attendance at the public hearing for HB 115, this year’s universal EFA bill, almost the entire time, for five hours, and I heard lots of outrageous things, but the case for Universal School Choice being made with exploitative moral arguments was troubling. The fuzzy math and manipulated data were widely spouted. Several Representatives used horrible tragedies like brain cancer, sexual abuse, and bullying as reasons to support this bill in a funding hearing instead of providing financial, logical reasoning. It was exploitative. Watch the video. Parents testified that Universal School Choice would allow them to pay for redoing their basement instead of paying for their own kid’s private school tuition, or ski passes. They are already paying for these now, by the way; instead, they want taxpayers to pay for these choices. Watch the video. Transparent financial facts were sorely lacking from the very first testimony, even as the Prime Sponsor introduced the bill. Of particular note was the teenage daughter of a very wealthy Representative testifying that people like me are “elitist” for not supporting the EFA. “Rich, entitled, elitist” are names that I’m called quite a bit by EFA parents, which is ironic, considering that I qualify for the maximum government funds from the EFA program times four. I don’t believe in government-funded education, which is just one reason why I home-educate. I’m out here paying for my own stuff, saying no to things we can’t afford, and building low-cost options – but *I’m* elitist? Personal attacks are often the rotten fruit of bad positions.

Additionally, and as outlined briefly in my recent Facebook group posts, multiple Democrat Representatives and members of the public said the scary parts OUT LOUD.  They attacked home education, EFA homeschoolers, private school EFA families (in particular religious private school families) with their usual talking points around lack of standards and accountability. They said exactly what they think, and know exactly what they will eventually do about it. One cannot have listened to the testimonies and questions at this hearing without clearly understanding that Democrats view the taxpayer-funded EFA as a government program to oversee with the same, if not more, regulations. I’m not fear-mongering, folks. They said it repeatedly.

This is the most important part.

Here are actual examples from the Home Education community of how this hurts us. These are just some of the reasons why I fiercely defend the Home Education pathway. Some are basic economics, and some are relational.

  1. The EFA raises prices for everyone.

My tween wants to take an art class. There are a couple of small businesses that offer various options. Consistently, the EFA vendors charge much more. In this example, $125 for four lessons (EFA vendor) versus $10 per lesson (non-EFA).

  1. The *perceived demand by EFA vendors is high. There are millions of dollars at stake, and all manner of providers are looking to make money. Money is the motivation, not community.

I see an amazing, low-cost wilderness co-op and reach out to the organizer. The $25-40/month is in my budget, but it’s full. EFA homeschoolers have taken spots and paid the low fee with government funds.

My child wants to do the local theater group, or dance classes, or karate lessons. The fees are high, and non-EFA home educators pay the same price (from their house budget) as EFA families. Personal investment is tied to personal sacrifice, so the quality of the program might suffer. Folks don’t usually show up to stuff they haven’t invested in personally.

  1. The EFA vendors have taken over support groups with marketing.

We are in the chaotic high-supply phase of this created market, so there are EFA vendors everywhere, marketing their goods. Parents who need help making connections are bombarded with fee-based programs by providers instead of receiving personal recommendations and support.

Out-of-state and online providers message us to market in our groups. Just this week, I had a provider from Hawaii message me requesting I advertise for her after I denied her request to join our closed Facebook group. This happens ALL THE TIME.

The amount of time I spend filtering out marketers, intentions, and attempts to bypass self-promotion takes away valuable time from supporting independent Home Educators.

The amount of time that people want me to spend helping EFA homeschoolers navigate all the laws and regulations, takes away time from Home Educators. I have examples that I will not publicly share.

The term “homeschool” has become generic, and “Homeschool Expos” are in reality EFA vendor promotional events to hype and market their programs (for significant fees, of course). “Homeschool Classes” are actually “Higher Priced EFA Classes” largely because these vendors see easy dollar signs for their drop-off programs.

  1. The EFA has ruined the used market.

I must carefully steward our one income amongst curriculum, supplies, and extras for four children. I look for low-priced, used materials. I freely give away what I (hoard) don’t need to other low-income families.

EFA families don’t need to utilize the used market; they can buy brand new curriculum and supplies. Those items might end up in the used market, sure, but at higher prices. Brand new curriculum, bought with EFA funds, is all over NH’s used market at high prices.

I research heavily and act accordingly with my money, because I don’t have a lot of it to spend. The EFA program amount is so astronomically high, that most Home Educators could comfortably purchase all the things for my four kids with the amount of taxpayer money awarded for *one* child. It’s so much more money than Home Educators need per child.

EFA families, who receive up to $5500/child, were calling dibs on free/used materials in our Facebook groups. Families like mine rely on these items to Home Educate. This isn’t fair or just, yet leaders have been personally attacked for guarding free/used items for Home Educators in lieu of EFA homeschoolers.

The voluntary, grassroots, familial free market and culture is gone. Free Staters! Libertarians! The EFA, quite literally, hurts us and takes our stuff.

Home Education in NH is built on the backs of the PIONEERS who came before us. They fought at local school board meetings. They fought curriculum approvals, home visits and threats of neglect. Home Education in NH is also built on MY back. In the 15 years that I’ve been contributing extensively, I never would have guessed that I’d need to warn families about the danger of government funds. I never would have thought that I’d be put in the painful position of needing to ask, are you a Home Educator or EFA homeschooler? I’ve created, innovated, provided, and contributed voluntarily, with no expectation of income, simply because I believe in Home Education. Co-ops, field trips, clubs, classes, leagues, info sessions, workshops, consults, etc., all created to build our culture, not my income. The culture shift away from grassroots and familial to money-driven hurts everyone.

  1. The EFA erodes parents’ confidence in themselves and encourages them to defer to experts and the government.

Young moms, doing their best, show up to library info sessions and ask me how to get that money. Instead of believing in the power of motherhood and parental rights, they have FOMO for their preschooler. They hear the message loud and clear: I cannot Home Educate without brand new this or that, or expensive this or that. They aren’t enough, they aren’t good enough, they aren’t smart enough to do it without big government funds. And it’s a LIE from the pit of hell itself. This isn’t “more freedom.”

These earnest parents want the best for their children, and think they need to trade one expensive drop-off program (government school), for another.

The EFA encourages government dependency, which I would never have expected from so-called conservatives and “liberty” people.

  1. The EFA damages NH’s homeschool community.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch upon the relational damage the EFA has wrought upon our community. Real-life friends are friends no more. EFA homeschoolers are questioning the Christianity of Home Educators. Facebook posts, conversations, and comments become gossip and slander. Awkward conversations have bred distrust and resentment, because of the EFA.

I share factual information, verifiable by law, and I’m still personally attacked and called a liar. Here’s just a sample of facts about the EFA pathway that have caused me to be slandered:

  • The EFA is the fourth educational pathway, completely separate from the Home Education pathway.
  • EFA homeschoolers must terminate their Home Education program.
  • EFA homeschoolers have additional regulations and government oversight.
  • EFA homeschoolers data is being stored.
  • Children’s Scholarship Fund is a New York based organization.
  • EFA homeschoolers do not have Equal Access to curricular and co-curricular activities at their public school.
  • EFA homeschoolers do not qualify for the Education Tax Credit Scholarship.
  • HEAC’s (Home Education Advisory Council) focus, mission, purpose and advocacy is Home Education only.

These are all facts, folks. Some guy on the Internet coined the phrase, “Facts don’t care about your feelings” and although I’m regularly tempted to respond with such flippancy, I deeply care about your feelings. I care about families, children, Home Education, and parental rights, and I act on it. I don’t hate EFA families. I hate the EFA, and there’s a difference. Some dear friends of mine are EFA homeschoolers, and although I wish they’d make a different choice, I love them.

Every single time that I write something like this, I cause a “blowup” in the community. That is my intention, folks. I’m out here sticking my neck out regularly because I want you to think critically about the EFA. I want everyone to understand the real threat it is to the Home Education community. I could get more into the politics of this thing, which is ugly and unbelievable, but this one is about us. It’s about the financial and relational impact that the EFA program has had on Home Education. I implore you to consider what I’m sharing, and act accordingly. If you are an EFA homeschooler, I would ask you to reconsider and return to Home Education.  We don’t need to take a giant step back in our rights to provide an amazing education for our precious children.

We don’t want to lose rights. We don’t want to lose our culture. We don’t want the EFA. If you love freedom, liberty, parental rights, and/or small government, I think you should oppose the EFA as well. If you are an EFA homeschooler and need help returning to Home Education, please reach out to me. If there’s something I’ve written here that you don’t understand, please reach out to me. If I’ve been unclear in any way, please reach out to me. There are parents who have signed up for this thing without fully understanding the program, its implications, or effect on Home Education. I’ve helped some of them return to Home Education. We need more of these conversations, not more gaslighting by politicians and those that profit from the EFA.

Opinions expressed are those of the author or organization and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com

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