Also on today’s menu:
Educational Freedom Accounts Survive
Reader Comment: Parental Freedom Wins The Day
The New Hampshire Senate followed the House in dismissing the will of a majority of state residents who want fair voting districts. The Senate approved maps for house, senate, and county commission seats that ignore communities with common interests, such as sharing school districts or public services. Instead, the map break those ties in order to dilute Democrat votes and strengthen Republican votes.
The House previously approved maps that did the same thing, most noticeably with congressional districts that group communities with no common interests and separate those that have traditional bonds.
At public hearings across the state, residents were nearly unanimous in opposing such gerrymandering which denies them the representation they want and traditionally have had.
Educational Freedom Accounts Survive
Several bills aimed at adjusting or eliminating the Education Freedom Accounts that allow parents to choose the school that they feel best meets their child’s needs were defeated in Concord on February 16.
The EFAs just rolled out this past fall, but those that oppose school vouchers found plenty to complain about when enrollment in the program pushed the anticipated cost from the $129,000 budgeted to $8.1 million. That is money that would have gone to public schools but, in fact, is less than the per-pupil cost of keeping the students in public schools.
Not all of the proposed legislation would have eliminated EFAs. Senator Jay Kahn argued that Senate Bill 432 would only make school vouchers comply with the criteria for all other public assistance, such as food stamps and Medicaid. The EFA requires parents to qualify only to get into the program; once a child is enrolled, the state will continue providing the funding, even if the parents’ income increased to “half a million dollars.” Kahn wanted annual financial statements to prove the family still needed the money, but Senator Jeb Bradley of Wolfeboro said that means testing would undermine and shut down the EFA program. The Senate defeated the measure, leaving EFAs to operate as they currently do.
Reader Commentary: Parental Freedom Wins The Day
SAU4 Newfound Area School District school board made the unanimous decision Monday evening to allow parental choice when wearing a mask at schools starting March 7, 2022. The March 7th date was picked because that is the first day for students to come back to school after winter break and gives parents time to adjust to this change.
Everyone should be celebrating that the school board finally reversed their policy of mandatory masking of students and staff. After months of members of the public attending every school board meeting, they finally received the message. This was never us against them, it was always about freedom, liberty and parental rights/choice.
Aubrey Freedman from Bridgewater who is running for school board took the lead on liberty and the optional masking issue along with student scores compared to other schools. Aubrey is a fighter and a leader that Newfound needs. He is approachable for parents and students to talk with about any school issues or concerns. Aubrey has spent a lot of time investigating and comparing data from other districts in order to get a clearer picture of where Newfound stands among their pairs.
Danielle Reed is another candidate for school board and has been at many of the school board meetings in the last six months fighting for parental rights and mask wearing optional. Danielle who is an EMT and lives in Alexandria will work hard and is willing to learn and apply what she learns as a school board member.
Newfound district voters should consider casting their vote in March for Aubrey and Danielle.
Make your vote count this year and help protect liberty, freedom and parental rights which are under attack.
As Ben Franklin said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
John Sellers
Bristol
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