NH House Bill 754 (LSR 218)

an act establishing an education certificate program to allow parental choice in the selection of schools for children.

last updated 02/27/03, 6:00PM



The following information has been provided by a proponent.

The bill has the following features:

  1. All children would be eligible for a certificate to send their child to a any public, private, or home school that wants to participate. Schools don't have to participate.
  2. The certificate would be for approx. $3300 or the cost of an adequate education as defined by the Dept. of Ed. - NH.
  3. A certificate for home schoolers would be $1,000.
  4. We specifically put a section into the bill that says - no new additional government regulations are to be imposed on any participating school.
  5. This is not a rescue bill for a select number of students or a select number of schools. It is fair and inclusive.
  6. We believe it would open up choice opportunities for disabled children too.
  7. The dollar amount is high enough to perhaps encourage new schools to open.
  8. But most of all, it would provide market forces in the form of competition to improve the level of education in all schools in NH as well as help the home schoolers.

We are concerned that the House and Senate Education Committees that review the bill first, will try to water it down to limit the scope of the bill in order to please the teachers' unions. Thus, individual citizens must contact the people on these committees to demand that they not ruin this bill.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in reading the bill and perhaps contacting some reps., I can send them a packet of information. I have forms letters that people can just sign, and I can send people the names and addresses of their reps. and senators.

I appreciate anything you can do!

Kathy Getchell, Co-Coordinator (603-432-3376)
Education Advisory Committee - NH Republican State Committee



02/12/03 -- from Diane LaChance

Dear Elaine, Abbey and Chris,

In the year and a half I have homeschooled I have had the opportunity to hear each of you express yourselves regarding a number of homeschooling issues. I have respect for the way you each have conveyed your opinions with supporting information, and most importantly with an understanding of the history of homeschooling here in NH. This is why I write to you today. In the last week I have been reading, and trying to understand the full meaning of the proposed Education Certificate Act, HB754 (formerly LSR 218) which is scheduled for a hearing on March 3, 2003. It is my hope that each of you might provide me with additional insight as to how this bill might benefit or harm homeschoolers.

My homeschooling experience does not yet outweigh, in time spent, our public schooling experience. Even though by more important measures homeschooling has outweighed the public school, many times over, I still have fresh in my mind the most important factors which led (drove) me to homeschooling. In reading this proposed bill I am finding myself in great favor of its passage. My interest lies not in the possible $1000 certificate for homeschoolers, but in the dissolution of the governments' monopoly on our education tax dollars. I remain skeptical about accepting any tax dollars, as a homeschooler, if the bill should pass as written. I am not sure the language is strong enough, or that it has addressed all possible angles. For me, this is not a concern as long as the option of taking the money still lies in my control. This is not the "carrot" which lures me to want to support this bill. Again I am specifically excited about the ability of this bill to end the monopoly the government has on our education tax dollars. I agree with the bills' assessment of our current educational crisis. My position is that the government should not be in the business of education, but that opinion is a "far cry" from today's reality. This bill seems to be a very effective way to begin the process of getting the government out of the business of education, and putting every child's education back into the hands of the parents/guardians. My view is that the government will not be able to compete with private education opportunities. How that would change things, ultimately, is anyone's guess. I am of the mind that it can only be better than what we have now. Attending a couple of HEAC meetings provided me with a great appreciation for how important it is to understand the history of homeschooling before leaping ahead with some of the seemingly good ideas that have come to my attention in the last year and a half. With this bill I am torn between wanting to support that which would be a positive change for many children and with trying to protect the even higher ideal of homeschooling. My child must live in a world where the majority of his peers are being educated in ways which I think are detrimental to us all, as a society. I feel an obligation to do what I can to improve the opportunities for all children. Anything you could contribute to my assessment of this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Diane Lachance



02/15/03 -- from Chris Hamilton

There are a number of problems with the bill:

02/17/03 -- from Rep Kenneth Weyler, prime sponsor

HB 754 introduces a new concept to New Hampshire education. That is, the parent should have the right to make the choice for the child's education, and the state, accepting the role that the population, collectively, benefits from having all our children educated, will support the parents choice by giving either the adequate education grant money, or a $1000 stipend for home-schooling.

Every other choice bill I have seen starts with a presumption that the local school board must have some say in your choice. I am sensitive to your criticism that some of the references to home-schoolers in the same sentence with private schools are somewhat misleading. I had to send the first draft back because it didn't accomplish what we wanted, and the second draft came out late in the cycle. This left us with little opportunity to perfect it as much as we would have liked. There is always a chance for the committe to amend. But therein lies the problem that the opponents will try to make it unworkable with an amendment. Wish us luck, and please try to support the concept. This may be our last best chance.

Please send any suggestions for change to both Kathy Getchell and to me. We are very worried that the opponents of the bill will ask to amend it also. We can be sure that those amendments will be designed to make it meaningless.

02/19/03 -- from Rep Kenneth Weyler, prime sponsor

Explanation of differences between HB754 and other school choice/tax abatement bills

HB 754 creates a whole new system, the education certificate. The program is funded by the adequate education grant. That grant is the per pupil amount that is presently sent to each town based on the number of pupils that town has in the public school.In other words it is state money. Although half of the money is generally raised by the statewide property tax, it is still considered state money.

Both HB 603 and HB 756 appear to use municipal money. The intent of both bills is to give tax abatements. I have seen bills in the past that attempted to do that get defeated on two grounds. One, the taxpayers who do not send any children to school could argue that they too are entitled to a rebate. Two, any time a bill that has the state telling the municipality how they shall spend their money is attacked with the statement, "28a." This is a reference to the constitution that says, if the state wants something done the state must pay for it.

HB 754 gives the grant to the parent, so that should remove the argument that the childless must be treated the same. It allows the parent the choice therfore the court has ruled that if the parent gives the certificate to a religous school, then it is the parent and not the state that is supporting religon.

The amounts are vastly different. HB 756 talks about $300, 603 talks about half the cost. HB 754 puts the amount at the biannually determined adequate grant. For the present biennium that amount is $3311 for an elementary student, and 1.2 times that for a high school student, or about $3973. These amounts were expected to be increased to $3551 for the elementary student, and again 1.2 times that for the high school student, or $4261, if I did the math right.


2/25/03 Letter from Jane Grady to Rep Introne

The Honorable Robert E. Introne
8 Everts Street
Londonderry, NH 03053

RE: HB-754

Dear Mr. Introne:

As one of your constituents, I am writing to express concern regarding the proposed legislation, of which you are a co-sponsor, referenced above. This bill, as it is presently written, contains serious flaws.

Thankfully, we do not have "government-a-la-carte" in this country. However, HB-754 uses precisely this approach to education funding. I believe that HB-754 is a simplistic approach to a complex problem and will further damage a system already in need of repair.

One of the stated goals of HB-754 is to use competition as a tool to improve school cost-effectiveness and quality. While this model may apply in industry when bringing a product to market, legislators would do well to remember that children are not "products" and that the processes, techniques, and facilities required for educating young minds do not constitute an industry. Using subsidized competition as a motivational tool will only serve to further undermine and eviscerate educational programs and severely limit public educational options.

All segments of a community benefit from an educated population. As long as state government remains in the business of public education, it is incumbent on each elected representative to formulate and enact just policies designed to provide and support quality public education. I am presently in my eighth year of educating my own children at home. However, as a member of this community it is both my privilege and duty to contribute to the education of all children in the community. To paraphrase Franklin D. Roosevelt, when my neighbor's house is burning, I lend him my hose.

In addition to the concerns briefly discussed above, as a home educator, I am uncomfortable with the wording in this bill. Language presently contained in the bill could readily undermine statutory protections afforded to home education programs. For example, the use of the word "schools" in the following excerpt weakens protection for home education programs.

"IV. Participating schools shall be permitted flexibility to educate pupils in accordance with the school's educational mission. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to impose additional restrictions on participating schools." (emphasis added)

Much of the language contained in the bill makes participation confusing and difficult for home education programs. If the intent is to include home education programs, there should be very specific language explicitly stating guidelines for participation by home education programs. Simply adding the phrase "home education program" as a parenthetical afterthought to various provisions in the bill may seem adequate, but fails to accurately address the valid and unique needs of home education and is ironically inconsistent with the bill's stated aim to "reach beyond … adequacy to … excellence".

Am I to expect the Londonderry School District to provide transportation to the various educational venues for my children and others in our community who are educated at home? There are weekly literature groups, practices, instructional programs, field trips, trips to the library for research, to name just a few, for groups of children educated at home. Many of these locations are within the geographical boundaries of the Londonderry School District. Locations and times for participants in home education programs frequently change in order to most effectively meet the educational needs of the individual students. The group sizes can vary from 2 children to as many as 20 or more children. Additionally, "home education" generally means that at least one parent is actively involved in most, if not all, of a child's education. Will parents be transported courtesy of the Londonderry School District as well, since they are an integral part of the home education program? The logistics and expense of an undertaking of this magnitude would be prohibitive. As a taxpayer, I expect tax revenues to be used in the most efficient manner possible - I do not believe this proposal will result in effective or efficient use of taxpayer money.

I am committed to education and am certain of its importance to each member of society. Furthermore, I am convinced that one of the fundamental liberties we enjoy in this country and must diligently protect is access to education for all. However, making education available to all does not mean that government must provide or mandate funding for all educational options.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss these matters further.

Sincerely,
(signed)
Jane A. Grady

cc: The Honorable Kenneth L. Weyler
23 Scotland Road
Kingston, NH 03848