New Hampshire needs to take a step back from framing public schools as enemies.
The people most often targeted in today’s education debates — teachers, principals, counselors and school staff — are not political operatives. They are not acting in bad faith. They are trying to maintain safe, welcoming, and stable learning environments where students can focus on learning.
There is no job more important.
That does not mean our education system is above criticism. It is entirely fair — and necessary — to confront sustained declines in academic performance. But we must separate systemic outcomes from individual intent. New Hampshire’s schools still rank among the strongest in the nation by many measures, and the challenges we face — learning loss, post-pandemic disruption, and widening achievement gaps — are national problems, not uniquely local failures.
Singling out educators as villains may be emotionally satisfying to some, but it is inaccurate, unfair and counterproductive. If we want better outcomes for students, we need educators engaged as partners, not pushed into defensive crouches by suspicion and hostility.
To educators: retreating behind the walls isn’t working either.
Even as someone who strongly supports public education, I’ll be honest: it has become harder to support schools.
The rhetorical attacks have been relentless, and it is understandable why many educators have retreated into the proverbial castle. But secrecy and defensiveness are not the solution. In fact, they risk reinforcing the very mistrust educators rightly resent.
Schools need to acknowledge sustained declines in academic performance and be fully transparent with the people who fund public education — property taxpayers. Simply stating that instruction is “evidence-based” no longer carries weight when test scores decline year after year.
Communities deserve honesty.
That means clearly explaining what the data show, whether declines are system-wide or concentrated among particular student groups, and what is being changed in response. It means explaining why leaders believe those changes will work and how success will be measured.
Parents and taxpayers are not the enemy. A lack of communication and transparency does a disservice not only to the public — but to the children we are all trying to serve.
Our education debates have increasingly become cage matches, and they are tearing at the fabric of our communities. Individual schools and districts do not have the authority — or the remit — to address these challenges holistically.
This is where statewide leadership matters.
The Governor’s office has a unique responsibility to elevate the conversation beyond blame and culture-war rhetoric and toward serious problem-solving. That means engaging with education leaders in other states to identify what is working, what is not, and what lessons are transferable. Mississippi’s recent gains in reading achievement, for example, deserve careful study — not as a talking point, but as a case study in implementation, tradeoffs and limits.
Kelly Ayotte has an opportunity to bring that kind of disciplined leadership to New Hampshire. If not personally, she should empower someone with the authority, credibility and mandate to do so.
Most importantly, educators must be included as collaborative partners — not treated as obstacles to reform. Sustainable improvement will not come from vilification or denial. It will come from honest diagnosis, shared responsibility and clear leadership.
Our children deserve better than a culture war. They deserve an education system focused on evidence, transparency, and results — and a public conversation focused on solutions.
Scott Shepard lives in Barrington and serves on the town’s Planning Board and Advisory Budget Committee.