New Hampshire: The Libertarian Attack on Government | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: The Libertarian Attack on Government | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: The Libertarian Attack on Government

Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider explore what happens when a state government is taken over by a combination of libertarians, who want to diminish government and taxes, and Republicans, who have spent decades attacking government as “the enemy.” It turns out they are indistinguishable. .

This is a don’t-miss edition of their reader-supported “Have You Heard” podcast (with transcript available).

Among the services cut were garbage collection and animal control. So people in the state are getting used to seeing bears ransacking their garbage.

The situation is growing dire for the state’s public schools. The libertarians want to eliminate public education. They want to replace it with charter schools, vouchers, home schooling, and pretty much anything that a parent wants to do.

Under the leadership of Governor Chris Sununu and CONTINUE READING: New Hampshire: The Libertarian Attack on Government | Diane Ravitch's blog

State of Siege: What the Free State Project Means for New Hampshire’s Public Schools – Have You Heard

State of Siege: What the Free State Project Means for New Hampshire’s Public Schools – Have You Heard

State of Siege: What the Free State Project Means for New Hampshire’s Public Schools

Two decades ago, the Free State Project announced an audacious plan to make New Hampshire a utopia for libertarians. Now one of their central goals – privatizing education – appears within reach. Have You Heard heads to the Granite State to explore New Hampshire’s shifting political terrain and why what began as a fringe political movement is no laughing matter. Guests: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, author, A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear. 

Episode transcript is here. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon or donate on PayPal.

Have You Heard · #111 State of Siege: What the Free State Project Means for New Hampshire’s Public Schools

State of Siege: What the Free State Project Means for New Hampshire’s Public Schools – Have You Heard

CURMUDGUCATION: NH: Another Lesson In Charter School Failure

CURMUDGUCATION: NH: Another Lesson In Charter School Failure

NH: Another Lesson In Charter School Failure

Stephanie Alicea has been around education for a while. She was the Community Service Coordinator at Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook, NH from 2003 to 2007. In 2010 she went back finished a BA in Psychology and went right into a MEd program at New England College. She taught health and phys ed at various high schools. 

In 2016, her son Samuel, a Black football player at Merimack HS, took a knee at a football game. Alicea's teammates were supportive, but the larger community kicked back hard--years later, Alicea talked about a BB gun shooting at his grandmother's car. So Stephanie Alicea pulled her son from the public school and enrolled him in private Tilton. She said she borrowed money from her mother and took five jobs to help pay for the move. And in 2017, when the New Hampshire senate made an attempt to push education savings accounts, Alicea was one of the spokepeople there to support the voucher proposal.

That was early in 2017. By the fall of that year, she was proposing a charter school of her own. Capital City Charter School would be a service learning charter, she told the State Board of education when looking for authorization. The Board expressed concerns--the application looked a little thin on things like variety of board members and some board members were concerned that the financials were not strong enough. "It just feels like it needs more infrastructure," said board member Bill Duncan. It seems obvious that very little in Alicea's background suggested she was ready to start and operate an entire school. The head of the NH Alliance for Public [sic] Charter Schools said he thought the board was CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: NH: Another Lesson In Charter School Failure

New Hampshire: Bitter Fight Over Voucher Bill: Join the Fight to Save Public Schools! | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: Bitter Fight Over Voucher Bill | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: Bitter Fight Over Voucher Bill

Parents and educators overwhelmingly oppose the New Hampshire voucher proposal, which would be the most expansive in the country. In terms of turnout, voucher opponents outnumber proponents by 6-1. Proponents claim that it is only educators who oppose vouchers, but many parents turned out to testify against the legislation.

Yet the Republican sponsors of the bill are forging ahead, claiming that so few children want a voucher that it would have no impact on the budget. In fact, the bill would have the state pick up the cost of tuition for children currently attending religious and private schools, and would fund homeschoolers as well. Critics estimate the cost at $100 million per year.

As background to the discussion, take a look at the research on vouchers. This report from the Center for American Progress finds that using a voucher is equivalent to missing about one-third of a year in school. Yet 23 states, including New Hampshire, are going full speed ahead to enact a harmful and demonstrably CONTINUE READING: New Hampshire: Bitter Fight Over Voucher Bill | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: Join the Fight to Save Public Schools!

Rightwing Republicans in New Hampshire are determined to give away public school dollars to religious schools, private schools, home schoolers, for-profit schools, and anyone who claims to be operating a “school.”

If you live in New Hampshire, you can join with others to stop this raid on public money.

“Reaching Higher New Hampshire” is forming a state network for those interested in public education, to serve as an information-sharing and networking hub. It’s first meeting is on March 10 at 3 p.m. They be covering vouchers, funding/state budget, the State Board and DOE, and a few other topics. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form or send an email to Christina Pretorius at christina@reachinghighernh.org

People united can defeat a raid on the people’s common good.

New Hampshire: Join the Fight to Save Public Schools!

Vouchers Would Ruin Public Education in New Hampshire | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tHX via @dianeravitch

Good News from New Hampshire: Legislature Postpones Voucher Bill to Next Year | Diane Ravitch's blog

Good News from New Hampshire: Legislature Postpones Voucher Bill to Next Year | Diane Ravitch's blog

Good News from New Hampshire: Legislature Postpones Voucher Bill to Next Year

As a result of strong opposition, Republicans who control the New Hampshire legislature decided to postpone consideration of their “number one priority,” school vouchers. Under consideration was the most sweeping voucher bill in the nation. Thousands of people signed up to testify against the legislation.

A bill to create a school voucher-like system in New Hampshire is poised to be kicked to 2022, after Republicans on the House Education Committee said that it needed more time.

In a 20-0 vote Thursday, the committee recommended that the bill be retained, a move that if approved by the full House next week would put off any decision-making until next year’s session.

House Bill 20, named the “Richard ‘Dick’ Hinch education freedom account program” after the late House speaker, was a top priority for House Republicans this year. The proposal would allow parents to withdraw their children from public school and take the per-pupil state money with them.

Under the bill, that state funding, which amounts to $3,700 to $8,000 per student depending on the school, could then be used by the parents for a number of CONTINUE READING: Good News from New Hampshire: Legislature Postpones Voucher Bill to Next Year | Diane Ravitch's blog

CURMUDGUCATION: NH: Full Neo Voucher Assault On Public Ed

CURMUDGUCATION: NH: Full Neo Voucher Assault On Public Ed

NH: Full Neo Voucher Assault On Public Ed

You may have heard that there is a bad voucher proposal up in New Hampshire. How bad is it? Pretty bad. I'll give you the history, the long detailed read, and the short story here.

Attempts to gut public education in the granite state are not new. Back in 2017, the GOP made an attempt to push Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) through to, as always, dodge that troublesome church-state wall thingy.

How We Got Here

Those neo-vouchers were relatively small, a mere $4,400, but came with the usual idea that the money could be spent on any education-ish thing that parents wanted to spend them on. That bill also included virtually no oversight; taxpayers would have no idea how their tax dollars were being spent. 

That attempt ultimately failed, but it highlighted the forces arrayed against public education in New Hampshire, like the GOP bill sponsor and head of the Senate education committee John Reagan who claimed that the lack of voucher accountability was no big deal because they have no idea how public schools are spending money now, which is a sign of either astonishing mendacity or astonishing incompetence.

Frank Edelblut also made an appearance in that legislative adventure. Edelblut was a businessman, venture capitalist, and one-term NH state representative. He ran for governor in 2016, but got clobbered in the primary by Chris Sununu, son CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: NH: Full Neo Voucher Assault On Public Ed

New Hampshire: “Historic” Turnout Against Proposed Universal Voucher Plan | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: “Historic” Turnout Against Proposed Universal Voucher Plan | Diane Ravitch's blog

New Hampshire: “Historic” Turnout Against Proposed Universal Voucher Plan

New Hampshire has a Republican Governor, Chris Sununu, who appointed the state Commissioner of Education, Frank Edelblut. The commissioner home-schooled his children. He hates public schools and would like to defund them. If you thought Betsy DeVos was bad because of her zeal for privatization, Edelblut is far worse.

At the first public hearing about Edelblut’s radical voucher plan, public turnout was huge and onerwhelmingly opposed to the destruction of public schools.

Members of the public registered resounding opposition to HB 20, a bill that would create a universal school voucher program, at a public hearing on Tuesday afternoon. Due to the unprecedented and historic turnout, with 85% of it in opposition, the House Education Committee recessed and will continue the hearing on Thursday, Feb. 11, to hear from all 131 people who had signed up to speak at the virtual hearing, and they are accepting additional registrations to testify for those who have not signed up already. 

About 30 people — including parents, educators, lawmakers, experts, and one student — testified over the course of four hours, and another 3,800 signed on to CONTINUE READING: New Hampshire: “Historic” Turnout Against Proposed Universal Voucher Plan | Diane Ravitch's blog