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I attended a series of House Education Committee hearings yesterday. During a break, a legislator asked me, "Why aren't we hearing more from people?"
I didn't have an answer but now's the time to fix it.
This is getting very real. The hearings Tuesday were on HB 1517 . The bill would withdraw New Hampshire from No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration version of the vital Title I program that our schools have depended on for 50 years. NCLB is bad but that's another story. In the mean time, our schools need the money. HB 1517 would cost our school districts $61 million per year in federal funding. The chair of the House Education Committee, who wrote the bill, said federal money has too many strings and the school districts would just have to get along without it. ( http://www.dnhpe.org/bills-in-... - check out the video of Chairman Balboni glibly giving the back of his hand to federal funding)
And the Education Tax Credit (school voucher) bills, HB 1607 ( http://www.dnhpe.org/bills-in-... ) and SB 372( http://www.dnhpe.org/bills-in-... ), will be up for floor votes soon.
Anyone who opposes the effort to replace the public school system with private, religious and home schools needs to be heard now. Call your legislator, regardless of party. Write or call the sponsors of the voucher bills. Write letters to the editor.
The hard core Libertarians sponsoring this legislation won't listen. Do it anyway! And come to Concord next Monday and Tuesday and testify! It matters:
Monday is HB 1607 before the House Ways and Means Committee, at 2:00 PM in the Legislative Office Building, Room 202.
Tuesday is SB 372 before the Senate Education Committee, at 1:00 PM in the Legislative Office Building, Room 103.
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