News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
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
State legislators have a limited understanding of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) mandates which have been imposed upon our public schools. They deal with many issues and it’s difficult to research each one in detail. Nor is it likely that legislators realize that federal ESSA mandates are already in place and ready to be … Read more
In 1993 the NH Supreme Court discovered a “hidden-in-plain-sight” constitutional “duty” of our State “legislators” to “cherish,” i.e, fund, an “adequate” education in “public schools.” Historically public schools were locally funded. Despite two ongoing lawsuits disputing the amount of State funding necessary for this obligation, legislators now propose to expand taxpayer obligations to fund both … Read more
Rep. Rick Ladd, Chairman of the House Education Funding Committee, argues that Universal Education Savings Accounts (EFAs) are needed because: A “one size fits all” system of education is not the best learning environment for all students. (House Calendar No. 15, March 7, 2025, HB 115 on pg. 13) Chairman Ladd knows exactly why public … Read more
Many people are giving up on public schools. Districts demand more and more money; student proficiency keeps dropping; and federal mandates keep stacking up, distracting students away from academics and towards social-emotional learning, behavior modification, and other federal agendas. Rather than fix the public schools, some prefer universal Education Freedom Accounts, really vouchers, without any … Read more