News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
I’ve recently had questions from quite a few people about how Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) work. During the conversations, they often mention that “the money follows the child” and “EFAs are saving money”. EFAs are one of many solutions for families for whom the default district school isn’t working. But families will be in a … Read more
Though expanding Education Freedom Accounts to all New Hampshire students is a top Republican Party priority for this legislative session, differences between three competing plans produced an impasse. For weeks, doubts grew about Republicans’ ability to expand the program even though they controlled the governor’s office and both legislative chambers. On Wednesday, the House Finance … Read more
Education is a mess, and funding it is a mess. Costs are high, learning is low, and there are many ideas about what to do that don’t even begin to address the purpose of public education or its problems. Back in January, Ian and Jody Underwood joined me to talk about all things education, and … Read more
The movement to shift public school funding from local governments to the state is driven by a core belief that the shift will bring more funding. But that assumption is almost certainly wrong. The National Education Association’s latest annual report on public school data drew media coverage this week for its finding that New Hampshire’s … Read more
Since 2009, districts in New Hampshire have been allowed to participate in open enrollment. Very few, if any, have opted to do it. Suddenly, there are four bills this year to mandate for all districts what almost none of them seem to want. Under mandated open enrollment, public schools will be required to publish how … 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
The premise of Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) is that some kids are trapped in schools that aren’t serving them, so they should be able to escape. But the idea can’t be to facilitate the breakout by creating a dependency that lasts for years afterward. The idea can’t be to get them to kick heroin by … 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
The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, in partnership with EdChoice, has released an analysis of the fiscal effects of two Education Freedom Account expansion proposals, one presented by Gov. Kelly Ayotte in her budget and the other in House Bill 115, representing the House leadership plan. At the state level, the fiscal effects range … 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
So, Governor Ayotte is moving us down the road towards universal eligibility for Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs). Awesome! Now what will she do to move us towards universal eligibility for food stamps, and heating oil subsidies, and housing assistance? While I don’t need any of those subsidies, I would certainly like to have them. And … Read more
In her proposed budget, Gov. Kelly Ayotte opens New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program to all students who’ve been enrolled in a New Hampshire public school (including chartered public schools) for at least a full academic year, the Josiah Bartlett Center has confirmed. The expansion would take effect July 1, 2026. Students who currently have … Read more
There’s a rumor going around that there is a web site where people with Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) can go to find people who need things like printers, or musical instruments, or martial arts gear. Holders of EFA accounts can use them to buy things that have been approved (by the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which … 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
Parents recently testified to the legislature that public schools are not “safe” or “suitable” for their children. That’s because the state has bribed public schools, using taxpayer dollars, to implement every education fad from restorative justice, which results in widespread discipline and bullying problems, to social emotional learning, which replaces academic instruction with behavior modification. … Read more
The State New Hampshire and its towns and cities provide the opportunity to obtain a publicly funded education to every school-age child, regardless of income. And no one complains that this unfairly benefits higher-income households. To illustrate the point, the median household income in Hopkinton is $130,216. That’s 55% higher than in Concord ($83,701) and … Read more
One of the many problems with universal EFAs is that they take money from people who don’t have it, to give to people who don’t need it. Let’s ask a straightforward question: Under what conditions should we give tax money to, or spend tax money on, people who can afford to get along without it? … Read more
One of the many problems with EFAs is that they simply continue the Pay-and-Pray paradigm that is at the root of our failing school system. Let’s ask a straightforward question: Under what conditions should we spend tax money on something for which we have no specific, agreed-upon goals (and therefore no way to judge whether … Read more
Let’s ask a straightforward question: Why should we spend tax money on education? The New Hampshire Constitution gives one possible answer: Education is essential to the preservation of a free government. The New Hampshire Supreme Court gave an expanded version of this answer: Every educable child should have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge … Read more