Eric Hoffman: Public education is foundational to a functioning democracy

To The Daily Sun,

Education currently comprises 23.2% of the New Hampshire state budget. While our funding per student is top 10 in the nation, the increasingly expensive voucher program is siphoning money away from public schools and into private schools. Now, thanks to Republican efforts, the fundamental separation of church and state has been eroded, paving the way for taxpayer funding to go to religious schools as well. Shouldn’t taxpayer money go to public schools, accountable to the public, subject to public oversight?

When it comes to higher education funding, New Hampshire ranks dead last in the nation. A higher percentage of our students go to college out of state than any other state. All of our neighboring states offer some sort of free community college program. This is a common sense investment in the future economy, not some kind of wasteful socialist handout.

The taxpayers of New Hampshire are already paying for a top tier education system. We need to reform how these funds are distributed across the state, clarify our educational priorities, and get the money we are already spending to the right places and out of the pockets of private institutions.

We need to support and empower our teachers instead of using the school system as a cultural battleground. The vaguely defined “divisive concepts” ban enshrines the ability of the far-right to persecute teachers for teaching subjects that don’t agree with their agenda, or simply make them uncomfortable. Suggestions to provide teachers with firearms, or that children receive firearm training just highlight the Republican Party’s continued tone-deaf response to the alarming level of violence in schools across the country.

Public education is foundational to a functioning democracy, and I am against any attempts to undermine public confidence in or divert funding from public education.

Eric Hoffman

Laconia