Prominent school choice advocate Glenn Cordelli resigns from Statehouse due to move

Republican Rep. Glenn Cordelli, the chair of the House Education Policy and Administration committee and a prominent supporter of school choice, resigned Wednesday from the House of Representatives, according to the clerk’s office.

A move to another state for “family matters” prompted Cordelli’s resignation, according to his friend and former colleague Republican Rep. Rick Ladd, the chair of the House Education Funding committee.

“He was out much of last year with a family issue with a relative down in Texas,” Ladd said. “He’s going where his family is needed — where he and his wife are needed.”

Cordelli did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A realtor celebrated the sale of his Tuftonboro home earlier this week.

Cordelli joined the House in 2013 and ultimately rose to a leadership role. He championed the state’s education freedom account program and other alternative educational models, like open enrollment. Cordelli also favored increasing parental control in education and supported bills that would make it easier for parents to challenge instructional materials they found objectionable.

In his last week in the House, he introduced an amendment to a bill that would grant the state sweeping powers over public school districts facing financial and other issues.

Cordelli was known in the House for the contrast between his mild manner and his sometimes-controversial proposals.

“He has some strong beliefs, and if you capture those beliefs, you’re going to get things done,” Ladd said. “So, he’s going to be missed.”

Cordelli is one of seven representatives who resigned over the past year, according to the clerk’s office.

Ladd said he didn’t know “where we’re going to go” in terms of filling Cordelli’s role in the House. The vice chair of Cordelli’s former committee, Republican Rep. Kristin Noble, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cordelli represented residents of Tuftonboro, Wolfeboro and Ossipee, which he often reminded people were in “the beautiful Lakes Region.”

Ladd said Cordelli should be remembered for what he did “for the individual child.”

“Some people always attach him to EFA or to an alternative program,” Ladd said. “But he was very, very concerned that even within the public school environment, K-12, that the student received an education which met that child’s learning style and that the teaching style was aligned together.”

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