On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Governor Kelly Ayotte declined to take a position on the school district budget cap proposal embodied in HB 675, but did add, “I will say this: I do think that there has to be accountability at every level to taxpayers.”
I found this statement to be, what? Ironic? Hypocritical? Though Governor Ayotte did not take a position on capping local school district budgets, she was more than happy to remove the income cap on the EFA program.
Here we are, five years into the EFA program which has functioned without substantial accountability. Indeed, we have some idea of how much money has been spent. This year, the taxpayers are expected to spent $52 million on the EFA program. How about fiscal accountability for this $24 million dollars over budget?
We know that 90% of tuition payments went to religious schools, but what percent of the EFA population is homeschooled? We are told that data is unavailable. Where is the accountability for that population? We can go to the DOE website and look at the breakdown of items purchased on Amazon out of school vouchers. We are also able to see which extracurricular activities we are funding — skiing, horseback riding, dance, martial arts activities compared to PE class.
Where is the verification and accountability that these purchased items and activities are critical to the learning of those curricular subjects that the EFA law requires?
Even the EFA Oversight Committee, established by statute to provide oversight and accountability for the program, has been woefully derelict in its duties. It met in mid-December this year, the first time it had met in more than a year. It does not produce timely reports or analysis of data reflecting accountability. It produces generalizations about “success” defined by number of recipients and their happiness with EFAs. It’s fluff, not accountability. Of course 98% of the EFA recipients are happy with state subsidy of their prior school choice.
Since 2022, the state legislature’s nonpartisan audit and budget office has been stymied in its attempts to conduct a statutory performance audit the EFA program, as required by HB1135. The relevant data for the audit is held by a private contractor, The Children’s Scholarship Fund, and that contractor has refused to share with the state the data it has collected at the state’s expense. New Hampshire cannot even hold its contractor to account! Maybe it’s time for the Executive Committee to revisit that contract.
There should be accountability for academic performance in all sectors of the EFA program. There should be standardized measures of performance so that reliable comparisons can be made between public, private and homeschooled populations. If portfolios are considered for evaluation of academic performance, then there should be standard requirements for them, criteria for performance evaluation, and there should be a select review board dedicated to this process at each grade level.
I agree with Governor Ayotte. There should be “accountability at every level to taxpayers.” It looks like we have a very long way to go to achieve accountability in the EFA program. The taxpayers should consider holding the Governor, New Hampshire Senate and Legislature accountable as well. Remember, Governor Ayotte demands “accountability at every level.”
Maureen Prohl lives in New London.