A recently proposed bill in the New Hampshire General Court, HB 283, has caused quite an uproar.
The bill was introduced by State Rep. Dan McGuire of Epsom after his conversation regarding education “mandates” and “adequacy” with local school officials according to The Concord Monitor. The article added this bill would remove “civics, art, music, engineering, finance literacy, computer science and other subjects” as areas of study that are required by law for an adequate education.
According to The Concord Monitor, “Over the first 90 minutes [public hearing for the bill], not a single person spoke in support of the proposed legislation. Online, nearly 30,000 people had registered opposition to the bill, while 68 had expressed support for it.”
In the current government, this is the sort of pushback we need to muster. Kelly Ayotte and her conservative General Court have taken notes from the Trump playbook. Ayotte has instituted her own Committee for Government Efficiency (COGE), placed a moratorium on all state employee hirings and has a proposed expansion of the education freedom accounts (EFA) program in her budget that would be a “17-fold increase” in eligible students according to The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.
New Hampshire’s conservative government is trying to systematically destroy the already weak public education system. With the proposition of shifting public monies to private programs and schools and now with McGuire having introduced legislation to reduce the requirements of an “adequate education,” we could be looking at the final gasps of a dying system. Critics will argue this is hyperbole; however that is quite the opposite.
There is a strong libertarian sentiment among N.H. Republicans in public office who have a penchant for proposing budget cuts whenever possible. These people will utilize their anti-government rhetoric in any way possible and they will not stop until the whole bloody government is just some guy who has a corner office and a filing cabinet.
McGuire said he has pure intentions with the goal of supporting struggling students with the reduction of the requirements. That is all well and good, however, this is a similar trend among conservatives in N.H. and elsewhere; they start with advocating for cuts and when those cuts are implemented and the system starts to falter, they then suggest more cuts.
Conservatives are advocating for austerity politics and it has historically been unfounded and dangerous, especially in modern politics. It ends with the wealthy running out the back door with all the money and the poor left holding the bag. In this case, the N.H. public will be left with struggling public schools that cannot perform appropriately because of their lack of funding and under-educating children given the requirements change.
When that cycle replays itself a few times over, there will be no public schooling to speak of and education will become the luxury it once was in the 19th century. Conservatives are looking to send the state back to the Gilded Age, with limited, if any, child labor laws and making education and generational wealth only for those of the upper classes. According to a New Hampshire Bulletin article, they had passed legislation in June 2022, S.B. 345, increasing the number of hours 16 and 17-year-olds could work during school from 30 hours a week to 48 hours a week and reduced the age for those who can bus tables in establishments with alcohol from 15 to 14.
This conservative virtue signaling is just that, virtue signaling. They are not interested in educating N.H.’s children more effectively, save for the benefit of their wealthy friends and donors. “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it,” said George Carlin, comedian and social critic; he’s right. Conservatives would just as soon have the public roll over and take it, but we cannot do that. We cannot let people and politicians who do not have our best interest and the interest of our children in mind.
This needs to be a call to action for young people and those who are concerned with the trends in the N.H. government. We need to be out there protesting, writing letters, and making phone calls to our representatives. Public education is currently being slowly dismantled in plain daylight and if this trend continues we may be in a time with little to no public education system in this state. This sends us to a time in society that no one currently alive has experienced.
If this is important to you, the phone number for the Office of the Governor is (603) 271 – 2121 and the mailing address is 107 North Main Street, Concord, N.H. 03301. Send her a letter, give her a phone call, or both, and let your voice be heard. You are her constituents too, not just wealthy donors who have something to benefit from these destructive policies. The only way we make change is to make those in power uncomfortable with their policies and voicing your concerns to your Democratic representatives is the best way to do so.
Reach out to your representatives in the N.H. House as well and help them bolster Democratic power.
KSC is in Keene Ward – 1 and your representatives are:
Renee Monteil: reneemonteil@gmail.com
Amanda Toll: electamandanh@gmail.com
Professor Nick Germana: ngermana@keene.edu
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
