News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
There’s been a lot of discussion about the Home Education Freedom Act, House Bill 1268, which recently passed the NH House. It recognizes a parent’s natural right to establish a home education program for their child, “regardless of ability, disability, developmental status, or educational need.” Parents will no longer be required to seek state permission … Read more
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
There is a particular kind of political jiu-jitsu that shows up every session in Concord: take a word conservatives like, twist it 15 degrees, and use it to do something conservatives should hate. HB1512 is that move. The bill would let a town hold a referendum to decide whether families in that town may access … Read more
With State Funding Comes State Regulation Every recipient of a state-funded Education Freedom Account (EFA) is considered to be a “public education student”, even if they attend a private school, according to our former Commissioner of Education. This is because public money is being used to fund their non-public education. A unique student identifier number … Read more
No one’s left to defend educational freedom, except for a motley group of independent, unfunded homeschoolers teaching their kids at home. Given that they broke free of centralized control and approvals of their home programs, many have a healthy mistrust of state control over education. Most folks never read, or understood, history. They simply trust … 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
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