News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Whenever people who have access to power or influence (that includes money) insist that you do not need certain basic skills, you should be suspicious. If they tell you that reading, math, language skills, especially the primary language of the nation in which you live, is racist, discriminatory, or – in today’s example – a … Read more
I believe it was Seymour Papert who said that often the best way to think about something is to think about something else instead. Given how quickly and completely people’s brains tend to shut down when thinking about education, https://granitegrok.com/new-england/nh/2025/06/feeling-instead-of-thinking-about-education he may be especially right for that particular subject. Let’s look at a couple of … Read more
Remarks delivered at the 12/16/25 meeting of the Wilton-Lyndeborough School Board I’ve attended many school board and budget committee meetings over the past six years in person and online, and I have read all the minutes from both boards since August. I was surprised when an administrator at a recent meeting mentioned some recent standardized … Read more
New Hampshire’s public schools have problems. No matter how much money we pour into them, the results get worse. Money, therefore, mathematically, economically, academically, and scientifically, is not the answer. Money, practically speaking, leads to worse outcomes. This fact aligns two problems in a common solution. Schools are the reason why property taxes are so … Read more
In 1968, our state constitution was radically amended. Voters were not fully informed of the consequences of the proposed changes. The voters’ guide said the amendment would “remove obsolete sectarian references.” There were exactly four sectarian terms (evangelical, Deity, protestant, and Christians), yet 140 words were removed from Art. 6 P.1 of the NH Constitution … Read more
Here’s a thought experiment for you to try. Imagine that you meet with your employer to tell him all the things you want to buy, and how much money you’d need to be able to pay for them. You tell him that you think you should get paid whatever amount would be needed to make … Read more
Someone mentioned to me recently that Rep. Hope Damon has introduced a bill to change the way school superintendents are credentialed. It’s classic Damon: Some parts of the bill refer to other sections of the bill that don’t exist. And the bill makes no reference to the Ed Rules that already exist. The bill reads like … Read more
The abysmal state of Public education cannot be overstated—an increasing investment in declining results. Sorry. I’m presuming things, like the purpose of the buildings and the system, is to teach kids to learn. As observed here, So we’ve been told for years, that we have to fund schools. And what about the teachers? And what … Read more
A Citizen’s Call to Reclaim the Bill of Rights and Local Control of Schools For thirty-two years, New Hampshire has lived under a judicial decree that most citizens have never heard of, yet it reaches into every wallet and every classroom in the state. In 1993 and 1997, in a pair of rulings known as … Read more
In 1784, New Hampshire’s schools were indeed overwhelmingly religious in character, typically operated by local towns or parishes under the state’s 1784 school law (and earlier colonial precedents). As Nathaniel Bouton documents in his 1833 A History of Education in New Hampshire, the explicit purpose of common schools at that time was to teach children to … Read more
This week, Tom Murray from the Government Integrity Project joins me to explain why we are in a constitutional crisis in New Hampshire and what School Funding has to do with it. Note: Resolved a sketchy audio issue in the first two minutes. Sound is excellent after that. Speakers’ opinions are their own and may … 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
I came across this the other day, and was startled to see that it was written 6 years ago. It could have been written yesterday — which confirms the accuracy of the analysis. With Comrade Volinsky taking another tilt at the ‘fairness’ windmill — slightly ahead of schedule — it seems appropriate to re-publish it … 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
The Committee on the Future of Public Education is circulating an online survey to gauge public awareness and opinions regarding Act 73, the public education reform law that intends to restructure and consolidate Vermont’s school districts. While the introduction to the survey references that “The law was enacted in response to residents’ concerns about high … Read more
Steve MacDonald was kind enough to share “RINO-Russ Barry” (a/k/a State Rep Ross Berry) Is Gaslighting You About “Local Control” And Property Taxes on his Granite Grok blog. Thank you, Steve! We noticed that State Rep Dan McGuire didn’t like our posting. We’ll share his criticism below, and then respond. Note that the focus of “RINO-Russ Barry” (a/k/a State Rep … Read more
There are many reasons behind the escalating costs in special education. It’s easy to blame the federal government for failing to fund its promised share under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but that’s only part of the story. There are serious, fixable issues at the local level that are driving costs through the … Read more
When you talk to legislators about political reform, whether it’s in the schools or anywhere else, they are often interested in making small changes — largely because those seem to be the only kind anyone thinks can be made. (The technical psychological term for this is learned helplessness.) I’ve been thinking for a while now … Read more
Anyone who has listened to Charlie Kirk’s presentations at colleges understands his brilliance, not just in his rhetorical speaking events but because of where and how he platformed them. Charlie knew from his own experience that colleges were eclipsing rather than amplifying critical thinking. He schooled socialist college professors at their own institutions and demonstrated … Read more
Our New Hampshire legislature gets many education bills—over 100 just last year—covering building aid, commission memberships, free school meal eligibility, cyber-bullying, masking, menstrual product policies, and much more. While some measures address important issues, most have little or no impact on learning, pedagogy, or knowledge acquisition. An exception was HB320 in 2021, which required that … Read more