Weeks after State House Democrats hit the brakes on $46 million in federal funding for charter schools, advocates on both sides are gearing up for another clash.
A Friday meeting of the Fiscal Committee – the powerful joint panel of House and Senate lawmakers that approves major transfers of money to New Hampshire departments – is likely to reinvigorate a long-running debate over the value of charter schools in the state.
In August, Gov. Chris Sununu announced the mammoth grant from the Department of Education, meant to nearly double the number of charter schools in the state over the span of five years.
But after a testy, hour-long meeting in early November, Democrats on the panel chose to hit pause on the first wave of that money – $10.1 million – citing uncertainties over how the expansion could impact public schools while demanding answers from the department.
This week, Department of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut will return to the hot seat, hoping to convince the committee to take the funding off the table and put it to use.
On Monday, Edelblut’s department released a 33-page document with written responses to 44 questions asked by members of the Fiscal Committee.
The document, written to assuage Democratic concerns, could provide a template for further debate.
In a letter accompanying the document, Edelblut praised the state for supporting “individualized pathways afforded through different instructional models.”
“The federal charter school grant program is a windfall for New Hampshire to lean into this innovative work to make sure all students can have a bright future,” he wrote.
But Democrats have questioned the effects of expanding charter schools, arguing it could strap the state with long-term costs.
Monday’s letter from the Department of Education sought to clarify basic details about how the grant money would be used.
Under the plan, 20 schools would be built from scratch, seven schools would be “replicated” based on existing charter schools in the state. New Hampshire already has 28 charter schools.
If the Fiscal Committee and Executive Council approved the grants, the creation of those 27 new schools would be staggered over five years, with between five and seven opening a year, the department said. The first batch is expected to open in 2021 at the earliest.
Each new school would receive a maximum of $1.5 million of the $46 million grant money, while replicated schools would see no more than $1.2 million.
Meanwhile, three charter schools are on track to open next year regardless of whether the state accepts the grant money, according to the department. That includes the Heartwood Charter School in Lancaster, the Northeast Woodlands Charter School in Conway and the Gathering Waters Charter School in Keene.
Still, Democrats have raised concerns that the new charter schools could cost the state more in the long run – even if the federal grants help them get established.
Charter schools currently receive more in per-pupil state funding than traditional public schools. While the state must provide a minimum of $3,709 per student at traditional public schools, charter schools are entitled to a minimum of $7,188 per student – nearly double.
The proposed grant funding comes as state lawmakers have attempted to amend the levels at which the state funds schools – a process presently subject to a lawsuit. A compromise budget passed in September approved $138 million in increased funding to schools. In their questions, lawmakers asked if the charter school grants intersected with the state’s creation of an independent commission toward funding.
Edelblut called any overlap “coincidental” and the assumption of a connection “opportunistic.”
He argued that charter schools should have a place in the redesign of the system.
“The near term implications of an increase in public charter schools is the ability to expand educational opportunities for at risk students,” he said. “Many of these students are not thriving or succeeding in our traditional school settings.”
Friday’s meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in Legislative Office Building Room 210-211.
(Ethan DeWitt can be reached at edewitt@cmonitor.com, 369-3307 or on Twitter at @edewittNH.)