This week, we asked readers: Do you think New Hampshire has the right priorities when it comes to education?
Here’s what they had to say…
“As a homeschooling family, we too are disappointed about the loss of a required yearly review. I think a once-a-year portfolio review, which we have always done, has been a nice way to have someone outside of the family look at our work, and we appreciate the accountability built into this process. We have been able to find teacher or educator neighbors to do the review whom we like and who understand our educational approach. This has been a good system, and I am not sure why it has to change. We have gotten a lot of good ideas, and also a chance to understand what schools are doing. I know we can still do this if we choose, but taking away the requirement feels unsettling. All the homeschooling families we know are doing a wonderful job, but I think children can benefit from an outside person in their area offering suggestions and a level of community accountability.” — Homeschool parent, Tamworth
“Absolutely not! It appears that Concord is trying to defund education in order to eliminate taxes. This is not what our country has supported. The key to a functional democracy is an educated populace. The governor and her cronies are trying to destroy government-supported education and our country.” — Janet Schwartz
“NH has really never prioritized education. The Republicans never want to help cities and towns pay for education. This has been going on for years! I guess they don’t want to help our young people get a jump on life. How about legalizing marijuana and using that money for education? Live Free or Die, and pot isn’t legal—it doesn’t make sense to me. Everyone goes to our neighboring states to buy their pot. We are missing out on money for education.” — Nora Smith
“While our State Constitution and, I believe, the majority of our people see NH kids as ‘our’ kids, deserving the best education provided by us collectively, much of the Republican majority in our Legislature view them as ‘your’ kids, or at least your town’s kids. They also incorrectly view our teachers, paras, and administrators, who are extremely dedicated to a successful future for our kids, as selfish, partisan, and inefficient because such characterization makes it easier to justify their disinterest. Education is a fantastic investment for the kids, their families, and the local and state communities, deserving significant and fairly distributed resources.” — Keenan Pawley
“I was disappointed to hear about the loosening of controls on homeschooling. Education should be a top priority because the next generation is the future of our society. Failing to educate them practically guarantees the decline of that society. Young people, the elderly, and the homeless are neglected either because they don’t vote or because they don’t spend a lot of money. If we want to survive and thrive, we need an educational system with high standards that everyone abides by.” — JoAnn Carlson
“During the pandemic, parents paid little attention to online learning. Now Ayotte wants to leave it up to the parents. The claim that students lost 2 years of education because of the pandemic—just how many years are they going to lose with homeschooling? Who’s going to train the parents to teach?” — Karen Landry
“HB 1268 is a disaster in the making. What sane person thinks having no academic standards or curriculum requirements is a good idea? — Tim Kelly
