This Week: House committee moves forward universal school vouchers & retains school budget cap mandate, Commissioner Edelblut to step down at end of school year

March 19th, 2025

Last week was an absolute rollercoaster for public education in New Hampshire: school voucher expansion, Town Meeting Day, state-mandated school budget caps, support for public education in the State Budget hearing, and breaking news about the NH Education Commissioner. Let's dive right in—here's what you need to know:

NH EDUCATION COMMISSIONER EDELBLUT WILL NOT RETURN AFTER END OF SCHOOL YEAR --

New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut officially announced that he will not be returning to his role after the school year ends. Commissioner Edelblut's current term was scheduled to end on March 23, 2025, but Governor Kelly Ayotte announced that she’d keep him on until the end of the school year. Read more from NHPR: After eight years, Edelblut will step down as New Hampshire's top education official

NH HOUSE AND SENATE PASS UNIVERSAL VOUCHER EXPANSION --

Last Thursday, the House and Senate passed their universal school voucher bills: HB 115 and SB 295. Both bills remove the income cap for the program and could cost over $100 million per year.

Both bills do one thing: give taxpayer dollars to the wealthiest families in New Hampshire to subsidize their private school tuition and homeschooling costs.

“Instead of addressing the root issue of rising property taxes — an inequitable public school funding system — the [House and Senate] voted to expand the school voucher program to the wealthiest families in the state,” Christina Pretorius said in an interview with Granite State News Collaborative.

Today, the House Finance Division II committee voted to recommend the passage of HB 115 along party lines. The Senate Finance Committee hasn’t yet voted on the bill.

LOCAL VOTERS PASS RESOLUTIONS REJECTING SCHOOL VOUCHERS --

Last week, voters across the state passed resolutions that urged lawmakers to reject school vouchers and place more accountability on taxpayer dollars.

Croydon resident Amy Campbell told The Valley News that lawmakers in Concord “need to be accountable for all this money that they’re spending on private and religious education, and then at the same time, our public education is severely underfunded, and it’s disgusting, I’m sick of it.”

Read more: NH towns weigh in on ‘freedom accounts’ (Valley News)

AND REJECT SCHOOL BUDGET CAPS --

Other districts, including Epsom, rejected warrant articles that would create budget caps, restricting the ability for voters to fund their schools to meet the needs of their students. Budget caps would force school boards to cut academics, extracurriculars, technology, and other essential parts of an education if there were fluctuations in enrollment, contractual obligations, or other areas of the budget. And, it would likely stifle districts’ ability to start new programs and accept grants.

Read more of NHPR’s coverage of the election here: Voters across New Hampshire reject new school spending caps

HOUSE PUSHES FORWARD STATE-MANDATED SCHOOL BUDGET CAP BILL --

Despite voters rejecting them locally, the House narrowly passed HB 675, which would mandate that every school district in the state adhere to an arbitrary budget cap.

“They can’t pass these arbitrary caps at the local level, so they’re mandating it at the state level… [Granite Staters have] been saying, we don’t want your budget caps; what we want is the state to support public education, and that’s what’s going to lower our property taxes,” RHNH Policy Director Christina Pretorius said in an interview with the Granite State News Collaborative.

SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT STATE BUDGET HEARING --

Last Wednesday, Granite Staters spoke for hours, urging budget writers to increase funding for public schools and stop funding the school voucher program. Some major topics included: insufficient state funding for public education in the state, burden on property taxpayers, opposition to school voucher expansion, inadequate special education funding, and calls for a fairer tax system to fund public schools. Check out coverage from the NH School Funding Fairness Project: Wednesday’s State Budget hearing was the only chance for public testimony before the House

THIS WEEK: PARENTAL BILL OF RIGHTS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE WORKING ON EDUCATION IN HOUSE BUDGET PROPOSAL --

On Thursday, the House and Senate will vote on their Parental Bill of Rights bills, HB 10 and SB 272. The House will also vote on HB 235, which would amend the educator code of conduct to include a “responsibility to parents.” Throughout the week, the House Finance Subcommittee on Education, Division II, will meet almost every day this week to discuss education. Division II is expected to address all education legislation passed last week.

WHAT WE’RE READING --

‘Are you listening?’ – NH residents urge lawmakers to fund public schools, childcare and disability services (Concord Monitor)
Hopkinton voters call for action on ‘inadequate’ state funding for public education (Greenfield Recorder)
Ayotte to replace New Hampshire’s top education official (Boston Globe)
Report: Education Department to lay off half its staff (Union Leader)
Following national trend, New Hampshire House votes to ban cell phones from schools (Seacoastonline)

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