Nora Foster: Concord is poised to cut more school funding, act now

To The Daily Sun,

This week, my school district's budget failed — as did other districts across the state. Sports, clubs, and summer school programs are among the many items to be cut next year to absorb the jump in health care, transportation, utilities, and special education costs.

I understand why locals pushed back on the budget. Many residents are on fixed incomes, and local business tax revenue is small. That frustration is legitimate — but the problem isn't our local school spending too much. It's the state funding too little, and shifting the burden onto the people who can least afford it.

A slew of bills this year have compounded the funding crisis. The latest — HB 1817 — is headed to the Senate. That bill would allow families to accept an Education Freedom Account voucher and then also have the right to enroll in classes at their local public school. A district would lose state aid for that student but would still be required to allow the student to enroll in classes, with no reimbursement.

That is not school choice. That is forcing already-underfunded public schools to subsidize a program designed to pull students — and dollars — away from them.

Sen. Tim Lang has made clear he fully supports school choice and the EFA voucher program. Based on his record, there is little reason to expect he would vote against HB 1817 — unless constituents make their opposition known. Our public school students deserve a senator who will fight for them — not against them.

Call Sen. Lang at 603-271-3207 or email him at timothy.lang@leg.state.nh.us. Tell him to vote no on HB 1817 and to start working on real funding solutions.

Nora Foster

New Hampton