The New Hampshire House took a first step towards adopting vouchers, despite the absence of evidence that vouchers are good for children or education.
“The bill, which is supported by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, would provide parents with the state’s basic per-pupil grant of roughly $3,000 to be used for private school tuition or home schooling. The House voted 184-162 Wednesday to send it on to its Finance Committee.
“Opponents raised numerous objections, including arguing that public money shouldn’t go to private schools that can discriminate against children with disabilities. Supporters argued it would allow parents to send children, including those with disabilities, to schools that better meet their special needs.”
Students with disabilities are protected by federal law in public schools. They abandon their federal protection when they enroll in private schools.
Recent studies, even those funded by conservatives and the U.S. Department of Education, find that students who use vouchers fall behind their peers in public schools. After a few years, the scores are the same, but that’s because the weakest students have returned to public schools. Vouchers do not provide access to better education; the private schools that accept vouchers are not as good as public schools. The best private schools don’t accept vouchers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s hard to keep Legisraiders from voting for something that will put more money in their own pockets.
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How can it possibly be for low income children if it’s only $3000? Turns out the whole “low income” justification for vouchers was a lie, huh?
Ed reformers move the privatization goalposts so fast I can’t keep up. Didn’t some of them used to claim they opposed vouchers? They’re once again in lock step?
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The $3000 can be used for home schooling and it applies to anyone making less than 3X the poverty level— or $74,000 +/- for a family of four. It will help those who want to enroll their children in sectarian schools and those who might want to homeschool. You can get a nice laptop and lots of “educational software” for $3,000… It won’t get a poor child into Phillips Exeter Academy, though….
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Another legislative session where ed reformers contribute absolutely nothing of value to public schools.
On the national scene DeVos has one accomplishment- a federal voucher plan they snuck into the tax code.
Nothing- not one thing- to benefit the 90% of families in the unfashionable public schools. Thousands of paid “advocates for public education” and hundreds of ed reform groups and their single accomplishment this year is vouchers, which apply to about 3% of families.
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Public school families should really demand more from the ed reform echo chamber. When they started they promised they would improve PUBLIC schools. Not just avoid doing lasting damage to existing public schools- they were supposed to add value.
What have they done to improve the schools 90% of families use? They’re all about “results” and strut around beating their chests demanding results from others- can they list their accomplishments, the value they have brought to the table as far as public schools?
Is there some reason public school families should listen to these people?
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All of ed reform are lockstep pushing the “portfolio” project, which perfectly aligns with the release of the David Osborne book.
This is a good piece about how all of these orgs are essentially run by the same people, and it explains why we see these coordinated marketing campaigns:
It’s not an accident that they all sound the same down to whole phrases and paragraphs and we see professional PR rollouts with no debate and no criticism. They are the same. It’s the same people. They simply switch tactics. Forced takeovers were inciting pushback so they went to a softer sell but there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between “the portfolio” strategy and privatization. It’s exactly the same thing.
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David Osborne was co-author of Reinventing Government, which Al Gore used when he was VP… it’s the neoliberal playbook…
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Despite or because?
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Duh Spite Is Duh Cause …
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Since New Hampshire is almost 94-percent white, vouchers must be a way for the wealthy to separate their children from the children of the working class.
And it can’t be poverty because the poverty rate in this state is way below the national average. It’s 7.3 percent.
There is no other logical reason for implementing vouchers in this state.
The high school graduation rate is almost 93-percent and almost 36-percent have a BA degree or higher. Even the unemployment rate is less than 3 percent.
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I am a former resident of Hancock, New Hampshire. I am a southerner by birth, but I have a great deal of respect for those hard-headed Yankees.
Granite staters cherish their freedom, and even have it on their license plates “Live Free or Die”.
The state has no sales tax, and no state income tax. Yet, it manages to balance its budget every year.
There are several reasons why a state would enact a school choice program. I am hesitant to bring race, class, or other arbitrary criteria into the equation.
There is obviously some demand, by some New Hampshirites for school choice. Freedom, and a natural distrust of government, are certainly part of the motivation.
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Charles,
What state have you not lived in?
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I am a journeyman engineer. I have worked from Maine to California. I was in the Air Force, as well. I have worked in some states, while not living in that state. (I worked a project in Maryland, and resided in Virginia). I lived in Kansas City MO, and worked in Kansas City Kans.
I have not lived in the Great Plains area, ND, SD,Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, etc.
I have attended training conferences in Arizona and Indiana, but did not take up residence. I attended a training conference in Alabama, and although I did not take up residence, I had a hassle getting a tax refund from Alabama.
Also, I have spent 16 years working in various foreign nations.
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I flew over Maine once.
Hey, Charles, is the United States Air Force part of the government?
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Of course the US Air Force, is part of the government. Although not specifically authorized by the US Constitution of 1789, the authority for establishing an Air Force, is derived from the war powers. (I work at the Pentagon, as a contractor)
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I worked as an electronics instructor, in Harrison Maine in 1983. It was a great experience, but the mosquitoes ate me alive. Great seafood, I pigged out at a restaurant called “Cap’n Newicks” in Portland.
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First, let’s not equate freedom of choice with what an elected governor and legislature do.
The House of Representatives for this state consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative districts across the state, created from divisions of the state’s counties. On average, each legislator represents about 3,300 residents.
Currently, there are 218 Republicans, 174 Democrats, 3 libertarians and 5 vacancies.
The NH Senate has 24 members. Fourteen seats are held by the GOP and 10 by the Democratic Party.
The majority of voters in New Hampshire voted for Hillary Clinton. It was close but she won by several thousand votes. More than 700,000 voted in the last major election.
If “choice” were real, then the voters in that state would decide and not the slim Republican majority in the legislature of that state.
The Concord Monitor reports, “Concord — A hotly contested bill that would create an expansive new school voucher program in New Hampshire passed the state House on Tuesday by a comfortable margin, 184-162.”
http://www.vnews.com/New-Hampshire-House-Votes-on-Passes-School-Voucher-Bill-14683796
I want to take this “choice” out of the hands of the GOP dominated legislature and the GOP governor and let the voters decide.
And what happens to vouchers when the people vote their CHOICE?
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I am (generally) opposed to referenda. They are a manifestation of “mob rule”. Referenda enable 51% of the people to urinate in the oatmeal of the other 49%. That is why there is no provision for referenda in the federal constitution.
We have representative democracies in all 50 states, and in the federal government. State legislatures act as a “brake” or “check” on the whims of the mob.
Some states (Indiana and Wyoming, for example) do not have any provisions for referenda at all.
“The crowd, like a woman is fickle” – John Carradine, in “Blood and Sand”
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I once pigged out on seafood I caught with my dad near Portland. Oregon, that is.
Hey Charles, do you trust the United States Air Force?
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Charles, do you trust the FBI? Or do you agree with Trump that the FBI is out to get him?
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Any Air Force chem trails conspiracy theories for us, Charles?
No. You trust the Air Force, you trust the military, you trust law enforcement, so you trust the government. You trust Government to support common welfare, you pay your taxes, you believe in Democracy. You’re not looking to weaken the People of the United States of America. You’re a good man. Don’t try to tell me otherwise.
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When it comes to school funding the NH motto is “Live Free or as Cheaply as Possible”… as for the voucher bill, I am hopeful that it might be overreach on the part of the governor and the legislature… in 2003 the NH legislature and statehouse were controlled by the Tea Party crowd which led to a succession of moderate Democrats like Hassan, Lynch, and Shaheen. The Governor Benson and his legislative allies tried to push a hard-right agenda and were put out of office after 2 years… here’s hoping the Democrats can find someone to run against Sununu and his allies in the legislature. NH is a frugal state, but it is generally supportive of its public schools, locally elected school boards, and democracy. I don’t believe voters want to see their hard earned tax dollars going to homeschoolers, sectarian schools, or profiteers.
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‘ “Live Free or as Cheaply as Possible” ‘
Chuckle. I can think of a few variations on that theme: “Live Free and Die Cheaply.” “Live Free AND as Cheaply as Possible.” “Live Free and/or Die as Cheaply as Possible.” I think their reputation for frugality is probably well deserved, which is shared by many New Englanders.
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I trust the FBI. Their motto is “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity”. I have the highest esteem for our nation’s premier law enforcement organization. I have a solid memory of the Watergate scandal. As far as the President’s feeling that the FBI is “out to get him”, I really have no opinion. No one, even the President is above the law.
I served in the US Air Force, and I served in the US State Department Diplomatic Service. I served as a civilian with the Defense Department in Iraq/Afghanistan. I trust the government, but I also feel that government must be “transparent”, and the people should keep close watch on the government.
“Government is like fire, a dangerous servant, and a terrible master” – George Washington.
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Good! “Corporate charter chains and voucher schemes are not at all transparent. We only find out they’re gambling in Las Vegas with taxpayer money when the cops bust them.” John Quincy Adams
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How sad. Bernie’s state is clueless.
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One nit-pick. Bernie Sanders is a resident of Vermont, not New Hampshire. Trust me, New Hampshirites are fiercely independent, and do not like being confused with Vermonters.
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“Trust me, New Hampshirites are fiercely independent, and do not like being confused with Vermonters.”
Definitely not although you would be hard pressed to tell the difference in many cases. There are those who espouse the “I take care of my own” philosophy that look down on the “welfare state” next door who are the first to help a neighbor in need, and there are those who like the lifestyle afforded them by a low tax state. New Hampshire effectively controls their population with their tax policy. Retirees love the state. Anyone who cannot support themselves without assistance had better find another home. Vermont will make sure you leave a substantial portion of your estate “in state,” but will also do their best to not let you starve. That fierce independence, however, knows no borders and can make a Vermonter as suspicious of government intervention as as a New Hampshirite.
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Sorry. That was a mistake. I went to school with Bernie. Silly me.
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2018 will NOT be the year of school choice. There will be advances, and some retreats. It is time to play the “long game” see
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2018-01-03/2018-wont-be-the-year-of-school-choice-and-thats-ok
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