Deb Howes is the president of American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire.
This fall, we saw some Proud Boys supporters showing up at a few New Hampshire school board meetings and intimidating board members and the public. We saw extremist lawmakers proposing a swath of anti-public school legislation. But right here in what could be considered the most conservative state in New England, lawmakers and voters are pushing back and saying, not in our state.
Over the last few months, we have seen a significant backlash against extremist policies and bills that attack our public schools, their educators and students. In the statehouse and at the ballot box, the public is saying, “We’ve had enough. We support our public schools.”
I believe we’re turning the corner on public support for public schools, and lawmakers should sit up and take notice. Don’t get me wrong — we’re not out of the woods. We’re still dealing with the treacherous divisive concepts law, the subject of an AFT-New Hampshire federal lawsuit because it is unconstitutionally vague and teachers could lose their license if they choose to teach honest and accurate history instead of whitewashing it.
Yet, the list of New Hampshire anti-public education bills that recently have been killed, totally revamped, tabled or assigned to an “interim study” (in essence, a way of giving it a polite death) is quite extraordinary. The list includes:
■A bill supported by Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut that would have cut the curriculum to the bare bones of math, English, science and social studies, leaving on the cutting room floor computer literacy, world languages, engineering, art, music and PE. (The House Education Committee restored those and other subjects to an amended bill on what qualifies as “adequate education” by a 19-0 bipartisan, unanimous vote, and the full House passed it. The episode shows how much Edelblut is out of touch with the public.)
■A bill that would have banned public school teachers from promoting any theory that depicts U.S. history or its founding in a negative light. (The Education Committee killed this by a 19-0 bipartisan, unanimous vote.)
■A bill that would have diverted more state education dollars for local voucher programs, which would have been in addition to the current voucher program. (This was tabled.)
■A bill that would have dissolved cooperative school districts, where mostly rural small districts share some programs to save money, and used it as an opportunity to expand voucher programs. (This was sent to interim-study purgatory.)
Town elections earlier this month saw many pro-public school candidates in local school board races win. The most striking was in the Timberlane Regional School District, where there have been divisive efforts by board members against supporting local public schools.
This tangible support for public schools in New Hampshire echoes some recent public surveys.
In December 2021, a Hart survey of registered New Hampshire voters found overwhelming voter support for making public schools better for all students rather than vouchers for a few.
A January 2022 national Hart survey of parents found that their top concerns were shortages of guidance counselors, social workers and nurses; falling achievement during the pandemic; and inadequate funding for schools. And 72% of parents said the public schools their children attend provide them with an excellent or good education.
Voters are not asking for vouchers, for punishing teachers who teach accurate history, or limiting course offerings. Voters want well-funded, robust public schools, and they want their public school teachers to be trusted to provide great instruction that will put students on the road to success in the years to come.
It appears the public has no use for extremist measures that harm our kids’ public schools and their futures. The public is saying, “not in our state.” Let’s invest in our public schools and provide our students with a rich curriculum and educators who are respected.