Longtime school choice Republican Glenn Cordelli resigns from NH House

Rep. Glenn Cordelli, a Tuftonboro Republican, speaking at a hearing in the House Education Policy and Administration Committee, which he chaired, Nov. 5, 2025. (Screenshot/New Hampshire General Court)

Republican Rep. Glenn Cordelli, a longtime advocate for school choice and the chairman of the Education Policy and Administration Committee, has resigned from the New Hampshire House, according to the clerk’s office.

Cordelli, of Tuftonboro, was included in an updated list posted by House Clerk Paul Smith Wednesday that names representatives who have resigned or died since the November 2024 election.

The reason for his resignation was not immediately clear. 

Since becoming a representative in 2013, Cordelli has been a prolific sponsor of legislation to expand alternatives to public education. He was one of the earliest and loudest proponents of New Hampshire’s education freedom account program, which passed in 2021 after years of efforts by Cordelli to get support from then-Gov. Chris Sununu and fellow Republican lawmakers.

More from this section

Easy as pie: See the most uniquely popular pie in New Hampshire

He was the face of many efforts to impose tighter state control over the content taught at public schools. That included bills to give parents greater power to challenge books and materials deemed obscene.

And Cordelli had appeared to be leading many of those efforts into the 2026 session. Earlier this month, he pushed forward an amendment intended to revive a bill vetoed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte that would allow for easier removal of books from schools.

He was also the prime author of legislation presented last week that would allow the State Board of Education to take control of school districts determined to be in a financial crisis or to be violating state rules. Presenting the bill last week, Cordelli cited the ongoing fiscal crisis in the Claremont School District as the impetus for that legislation, which would allow the board to appoint an administrator to take over a school district for up to a year.

Frequently sporting a yellow scarf to symbolize the school choice movement, Cordelli was a regular presence on the House floor in support of education freedom accounts, charter schools, and homeschooled students.

Speaking in favor of a bill to expand the education freedom account program in February 2024, Cordelli encapsulated that lifelong view. 

“School choice programs have the best form of accountability,” he said. “Parents can walk when they’re not happy with their kids’ education. In public schools, what happens if the school is failing? They get more money.”