HB115

Myself - Dover - NH

Education Funding

Until public schools can actually educate rather than indoctrinate, I support parent who want better for their children and feel the importance of options other than public schools is best for our future and children

Myself - New London - NH

Education Funding

I learned recently that NH ranks worst in the nation at supporting public education. We can do better. Property taxes continue to increase to help counterbalance our states underfunding of schools. This bill would continue to take away resources for public education. Again, we can do better New Hampshire. Please vote no.

Myself - Berlin - NH

Education Funding

I am opposed to this bill as I firmly believe that public education funds should not be used to fund voucher programs. Families that chose private programs, schools and home schooling do so by their choice and should be responsible for the cost of these programs. The voucher subsidies is out of control and is affecting the public schools. The more this is done, the more public school education will suffer. Property taxes are on the rise to provide adequate education locally. As a senior homeowner this is affecting me and many other seniors. We don't have children in school anymore! I would like to be able to afford to live in my home. I am not opposed to funding public schools but it shouldn't cost me in a way that I have to lose my home to do this.

Myself - JAFFREY - NH

Education Funding

Myself - LONDONDERRY - NH

Education Funding

Myself - FARMINGTON - NH

Education Funding

I believe that this should remain for those families that have a more difficult financial time paying for their child's education. If they choose to send them to someplace outside of the towns public school system. Thank you.

Myself - Newton - NH

Education Funding

I strongly oppose any bill that will raise my Property Taxes in the State of New Hampshire. We are currently barely able to remain in our home due to the huge increase in our taxes (nearly $10,000) since we first ourchased our home. We are now nearing retirement age and will hate to leave our family home due to tax hikes. We also receive no services ie. trash collection, public water or sewer for these taxes.

Myself - Atkinson - NH

Education Funding

Our education costs are astronomical. I cannot financially keep up with the pace of increases.

Myself - Gilsum - NH

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Myself - Newmarket - NH

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Myself - Brookline - NH

Education Funding

The state always seems to have enough money for private and religious schools and not any for neighborhood schools. the neighborhood schools been denied money for years and it just gets our local property taxes higher and higher stop these freedom accounts. They’re not freedom they are robbery.

Myself - Wakefield - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Franklin - NH

Education Funding

I highly object to the further fleecing of our local taxpayer dollars to support non-public schools. I am a retired person with grown children, but still care passionately about all children and the future of public education in our society.

Myself - FRANKLIN - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Bedford - NH

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Myself - Exeter - NH

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Myself - Dover - NH

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As someone well above the income limit to use these accounts, the continued reduction in funding to local schools is negatively impacting our children.

Myself - Antrim - NH

Education Funding

I vehemently oppose any effort to divert taxpayer dollars from public schools to private and religious schools. I vehemently support any effort to keep those funds in our public schools, to make them even better, with programs that address the reasons why parents think public schools aren't good enough or safe enough for their children. Any Representative who votes for this bill is voting against the 90% of Granite Staters who support NH public schools. If they vote yes, they will be taking $100 million dollars a year out of public schools and giving it to private and religious schools without accountability of how and where those funds are going, or and what they are teaching. Vote NO on HB 115. Do what your constituents have asked you to do: SUPPORT PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Myself - Exeter - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Holderness - NH

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Myself - Sanbornton - NH

Education Funding

I urge you to reject this bill. I believe that public education is a foundation for a democratic society and one of the most important ways we, as citizens of our state and country, learn about the worth and dignity of us ALL despite our many varied stories and beliefs. Thank you, Mary Ahlgren

Myself - Acworth - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Freedom - NH

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Myself - Merrimack - NH

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Myself - Merrimack - NH

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Myself - Merrimack - NH

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Myself - Candia - NH

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Myself - Litchfield - NH

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Myself - Litchfield - NH

Education Funding

I do not want money to be diverted from public schools. Vouchers are a bad idea and only benefit the wealthy.

Myself - Canaan - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Swanzey - NH

Education Funding

Taxes in Swanzey just went up substantially for many homeowners. We need to support and fund our local public schools and not divert money away from them. Public schools are the heart of our community. This bill will cause local taxes to increase even more to fund vouchers and cause our local schools to suffer. HB 115 proposes to expand our unaccountable voucher program by removing the income eligibility cap entirely. This would result in taxpayers funding private school tuition for wealthy families who send their children to elite institutions. According to a recent report by Reaching Higher NH, removing the income limit could cost the state more than $100 million annually. This is $100 million in public funds that would be diverted from public education—despite the fact that New Hampshire residents overwhelmingly support their local schools, which serve nearly 90% of the state's students. Rather than pouring more money into a program that lacks accountability, we urge the legislature to prioritize local communities by fully funding special education, maintaining or increasing support for hiring and retaining qualified educators, and providing building aid to ensure students have safe and healthy learning environments.

Myself - Silver Lake - NH

Education Funding

I'm tired of our education funding being used to support private schools. I see staff members from public schools working in private schools on public dollars. Their time and money is being drained from their number one job teaching in a public school. I also have heard that SAU49 district grant writers are also spending time at private schools such as Cornerstone Christian School in Ossipee and Brewster academy in Wolfeboro. Public School employee working in a private school.

Myself - Sutton - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Wilmot - NH

Education Funding

This piece of legislation will gut funding for public schools and hand out taxpayer dollars to be spent with absolutely no oversight by citizens who could well afford payments for private schools should they choose to educate their children outside of the public schools system. New Hampshire public schools need more state funding, not less.

Myself - Merrimack - NH

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Myself - Newbury - NH

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Myself - Bedford - NH

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Myself - Merrimack - NH

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Myself - Newbury - NH

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Myself - Hollis - NH

Education Funding

Having not only raised four children, but also having teachers in the family across four generations, I wish to emphasize the importance of school choice. Please support the bill for Education Freedom Accounts.

Myself - Lee - NH

Education Funding

Please accept this testimony in opposition to HB115. Making the EFA program universal will have negative financial consequences on public schools across New Hampshire. It is estimated that expanding the program in this manner will cost over $100 million at a time when funding to public schools in NH is at a crisis point. As it currently stands the NH State Legislature is not meeting its obligation to fund public education in multiple ways. In FY24 Special Education Aid requests across the state exceeded $50 million. The state provided only $33.9 million in aid leaving a shortfall of over $16 million to public schools dependent on this aid to educate the most needy students in the state. In the small Newmarket School District this shortfall resulted in almost $200,000 needing to be absorbed into the local budget. In addition, school building aid has not been adequately funded in over 14 years. There are hundreds of millions of dollars in building aid needs across the state that are not being funded. In 2017, due to serious health and safety issues in its school buildings, the Newmarket School District was forced to take on a $39 million renovation project without any state assistance. The residents of Newmarket stepped up to meet the need by taking on a significant bond. The reality of this decision is a $2.1 million bond payment every year until 2046. The taxpayers of Newmarket regularly step up to fill the financial shortfalls passed onto the town by the state's failure to adequately fund public education. Please do not add to Newmarket's financial woes by syphoning off additional state funds through the EFA program that would be more effectively used to support public schools in the state.

Myself - Hollis - NH

Education Funding

Dear Hon. Committee Members: I write to urge you to please support HB115 and thereby make Education Freedom Accounts available universally. I strongly support the idea of universal school choice and oppose the current system of income-based school choice. HB115 is a vital measure for reforming and improving education in our state. Thank you for helping NH families best address their educational needs with the options this common-sense bill provides them. Sincerely, Tom Allen Hollis, NH

Myself - Barnstead - NH

Education Funding

Myself - New Durham - NH

Education Funding

This bill is imprudent on many levels. It will serve to raise property taxes, divert money from the education of the majority of young people in the state, decrease accountability regarding both educational results and how money is spent, and most of all: the people of NH DO NOT WANT TO EXPAND THE VOUCHER SYSTEM! Listen to your constituents. Vouchers do not truly extend educational opportunities to all; so far they have helped predominantly those families whose children were already in private schools. Our country has thrived for centuries, compared to so many others, due to separation of church and state. I do not want any of my tax dollars going to someone else's child's religious school. Or private. We all know what we are talking about here; we all know who wants the voucher system to erode public schools; and we all know why. What I don't understand is why the NH legislation would be willing to play along with this and raise property taxes - you live here, too. I would ask that the chair of this committee ensure that all members see all testimony from constituents.

Myself - Lebanon - NH

Education Funding

We are coming into a revenue crisis like we haven't seen since 2008, have to cut everywhere, and the sponsors want us to spend more on the richer people in the state? This would also harm those same people because the housekeepers, repairman, lower level nurses, firemen, etc will have to leave the state.

Myself - Salem - NH

Education Funding

My constituents in district 24 - Stratham - NH

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SD 24 - SD 24 - NH

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Myself - Hooksett - NH

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Myself - North Hampton - NH

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Myself - Jaffrey - NH

Education Funding

I am strongly opposed to HB 115 as it will cost the state over $100 million per year, (according to Reaching Higher NH analysis) at a time that the state is struggling to balance its budget. These funds are diverted from the public schools programs where cuts are being made and funds are desperately needed This voucher program is currently used by more than 75% who were already enrolled in private schools. We need not fund wealthy families and take away from poorer families who even with the voucher cannot make up the difference of the private school cost or often live in rural areas where they cannot access a private school.. Furthermore the lack of oversight on the use of these taxpayer funds is unacceptable. Please vote NO on HB 115.

Myself - Hudson - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Alexandria - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Londonderry - NH

Education Funding

I am opposed to HB 115, which removes the household income criteria from eligibility requirements for the education freedom account program. The education freedom account program has operated for 4 years with no accountability. The EFA program diverts taxpayer funds away from our highly-rated public schools, thus shifting the costs for public education to local property taxes. We are a state where the courts have repeatedly determined that state funding for education is both insufficient and inequitably distributed. That is the problem that the legislature should be working on.

Myself - Strafford - NH

Education Funding

At this time there isn’t enough State controlled money to fully fund general education much less the critical vocational/technical education needed in New Hampshire to allow private and home schooling to tap into more money from the education fund.

Myself - Bow - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Harrisville - NH

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Myself - Bow - NH

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Myself - Brentwood - NH

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Myself - Littleton - NH

Education Funding

We have three children. Currently we do not qualify because of our income and in reality we cannot afford the premium to send three children to school. This bill would allow us to have the ability to provide quality education for the three of our most precious.

Myself - Keene - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Harrisville - NH

Education Funding

HB 115 would expand our unaccountable voucher program by eliminating the income qualifying cap entirely. That means taxpayers would be subsidizing extremely wealthy families who send their kids to elite private schools. A recent report from Reaching Higher NH indicates that expanding our voucher program with no income limit could cost the state over $100 million dollars per year. That is $100 million in public money that would be diverted away from supporting public education – even though Granite Staters overwhelmingly support their community public schools, which are attended by nearly 90% of New Hampshire students. Instead of sinking more money into a program that its advocates refuse to place any accountability on, tell the legislature they should support local communities by fully funding special education costs, maintaining or increasing aid to be able to hire or retain qualified educators, and funding building aid so that students have safe and health environments to learn. In addition, there should amendments to promote equity: 1) any recipient of funds for education from state or municipal should meet the same minimum requirements as our public schools in regards to providing testing information and staff certification standards. 2) funding to nonpublic schools/entities should be prorated to account for the lack of federally required programming, support and building needs; this would include proration for busing , including special education busing. Funding would also be prorated to account for sports programming and SAU district expenses, including staffing. Thank you.

Myself - Tamworth - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Meredith - NH

Education Funding

Our property taxes are going through the roof. Why are we giving money away to those already well able to afford private schools. The private school teachers aren't certified and we have no data on this to justify the additional costs to tax payers.

Myself - Pittsfield - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Wakefield - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Dover - NH

Education Funding

This bill will cost the taxpayers an indeterminate amount of money if expanded. All private school students and many homeschoolers will become efa students instead, why wouldn’t they turn down free money? These students aren’t switching out of public school so the public school budget will not change. EFA is already being used for expensive drop-off programs, extracurricular like music lessons and martial arts, things regular homeschooling families like mine have to consider and budget for. When money is artificially poured into an economy it messes with demand and costs will go up because the vendors realize they can charge more.

Myself - Concord - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Bow - NH

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Myself - Sanbornton - NH

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Myself - Littleton - NH

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Myself - Manchester - NH

Education Funding

Please vote NO on this bill. Money should NOT be siphoned away from public school systems to private schools. There is not any accountability built into the program.

Myself - Exeter - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Amherst - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Amherst - NH

Education Funding

We chose private school after the public school district could not meet our child’s needs. There were many factors, including poor curriculum, and overloaded teachers, who had to focus on the children struggling the most, or behavioral issues, with no bandwidth for the children who were doing ok, but not meeting their potential. Within a year of switching our child went from approximately 50% percentile in math to high 80s and continues in the 90s for math 8 years later, and more importantly than the numbers is a confident learner instead, where she had feared to math prior. In addition, the small private school is educating children on a fraction of what the public schools have per capita. Our children have thrived in the private school environment, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford it due to the rise in property taxes, and at the same time in tuition. Many families who do not meet the current requirement are struggling to keep their kids in the school choice that is right for them. We would like school choice available for all.

Myself - Concord - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Walpole - NH

Education Funding

I am very concerned about this bill for the following reasons: it will siphon funding away from public schools. NH has already been deficient in the funding of public education, and needs to increase funding rather than decrease funding for public schools. Communities are already struggling to fund education due to the lack of state funding. Property taxes are increasing, which makes it more difficult for schools to function and for families to afford homes. This bill would benefit wealthier people, religious, and other schools. There is no reason or mandate for the State of NH to fund private education. Well fund-funded public education is essential for a democracy and for the growth of a prosperous middle class. NH is already attracting more older wealthy people other states, rather than serving the families that most benefit from public education. I urge the committee and others to vote no on this bill.

Myself - Hampton Falls - NH

Education Funding

I am writing in opposition of the school voucher program. This program systemically hurts public schools and the students that attend them. Please consider keeping our state education funding for public schools only. The future of our state and nation is at risk with the school voucher program.

Myself - Claremont - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Claremont - NH

Education Funding

Myself - NEW LONDON - NH

Education Funding

The funds being pulled are designated for public education, not private school. This is a misuse of public funding and needs to end.

Myself - Manchester - NH

Education Funding

Stop robbing NH students of their education money. Stop subsidizing religious schools with public monies.

Myself - Sutton - NH

Education Funding

Public education is a right granted to our children by the United States government. The diversion of funds from public schools to private is a slap in the face for every citizen of this state.

Myself - Mont Vernon - NH

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Myself - Moultonboro - NH

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Myself - Moultonboro - NH

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Myself - Durham - NH

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Myself - Hollis - NH

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Myself - Kensington - NH

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Myself - Warren - NH

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Myself - Goffstown - NH

Education Funding

Public school is what sets the United States apart from almost every nation. Our towns have been tasked with paying for public schools by increasing property taxes. Certain politicians are using the current inflation climate and high taxes to their advantage in order to make public schools the scapegoat. The anti-public school lobbies and politicians hide under the banner of school choice , while not being honest about their intentions. Every dollar taken from the public school further burdens our towns. These vouchers are not even enough to pay for the average private school. And lastly , public schools are not perfect but do much with the little they are given - accepting every student no matter their ability or history. Thank you for your time.

Myself - Brookline - NH

Education Funding

I do. It want my tax dollar’s supporting private schools and those schools that are sponsored by religious organizations.

Myself - Hopkinton - NH

Education Funding

I enthusiastically support HB 115 which will if passed make Education Freedom Accounts available universally and without regard to the income of a student's family. As a retired lifelong educator, I very much understand and am in strong sympathy with the desire of students and their families to enjoy the option of enrolling in a school which in their estimation will more closely meet their educational needs, and without regard for their income. I strongly support school choice for the citizens, families and students of New Hampshire.

Myself - Manchester - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Rochester - NH

Education Funding

I am a parent of a graduate of a charter school who mentally suffered in the traditional public school environment. Once he discovered an alternative, where he exclaimed "Mom the kids are just like me", he thrived and went on to a healthy and happy educational experience. We are not wealthy and neither was the charter school. Many sacrifices, but worth the investment for someone who didn't fit the cookie cutter model student.

Myself - Ossipee - NH

Education Funding

We need to adequately fund public education before any such bill should be considered.

Myself - Henniker - NH

Education Funding

Myself - Acworth - NH

Education Funding

Quality comes from choice! This levels the education playing field and opens up the door for alternative learning models for students who don't do well in a public school setting and this helps kids flourish. Students over systems! Money should follow the child, and not fund buildings, unions, or institutions. Innovation and competition improves education committee outcomes. This has been a wildly popular and successful program and other states are using NH as a model for improving education. It's a great program and it is better than what we were previously doing for our kids.

Myself - Portsmouth - NH

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Myself - Seabrook - NH

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