An Environment of Uncertainty

April 27th, 2026

Notes from the Margins: 

Last week, the Senate Education Committee heard testimony on HB 1358 (Rep. Osborne). This bill would create a study commission to explore converting all public schools to public charter schools. 

I don’t want to engage too deeply on the merits of the bill, because there are few. But I think it’s important to point out that proponents cite two arguments. First, they say NH charter schools are outperforming traditional public schools. That is simply not true. The charters do fine, and most are somewhere in the middle when it comes to test scores. They do often educate student populations that look different than the populations at district schools, so it’s hard to draw a one-to-one comparison. But in general, they are neither significantly better, nor significantly worse, than district schools. 

The other argument you hear is that the funding model works better. The charter school funding model is a combination of federal grants, increased state funding, and charitable donations. Without going too deep into the mechanics, or the many instances in which this model hasn’t worked, I imagine our district schools would also need less from local taxpayers if they received double adequacy funding from the state. 

But – I have already gone too far down the rabbit hole. In Tuesday’s hearing, a retired teacher from Holderness highlighted the fact that it is not the bill itself that matters so much as the message it sends. She describes that message in the clip below, responding to a question from Sen. Sullivan. But, simply, she wonders whether she would have chosen to pursue teaching in New Hampshire had the legislature been seriously entertaining bills like HB 1358 when she was beginning her career, and she worries about how HB 1358 and bills like it will affect others considering entering education or considering raising children in the Granite State. 

This testimony reminds us that regardless of what bills ultimately pass, the bills put forth for consideration tell a story – and right now, that story is of a state that does not value public education.