Still trying to steal control of schools
You thought the session was over? No — this Thursday, the House and Senate will vote on two education bills that would harm our local schools and take away local control. We must stop these bills.
HB 751, the last-minute amendment on open enrollment, replaced the bill lawmakers spent the past two months developing. The new amendment eliminates any state money for the program and instead mandates that every school district allow at least 10% of their students transfer out to another district. Students who leave would bring 80% of the local property tax funding to their new school district. Yes, local property tax dollars would leave your school district with no local oversight or control.
HB 1300 puts mandatory school tax caps on the ballot in every city and town in the November state election. Cities and towns already have laws allowing them to adopt school property tax caps or spending caps using warrant articles at annual meeting or by following their city charter. Granite Staters don’t need lawmakers in Concord forcing everyone to vote on tax caps on the same day, whether they want them or not. We should have local control of our local budgets.
It’s time to let our representatives know that we want local control of our schools and budgets and they should focus on addressing their issues — such as how to fix New Hampshire’s school funding travesty. Vote NON-concur on HB 751 and HB 1300.