NH School Scoop - April 8, 2025
NH schools need to certify that they comply with a non-DEI approach, dollars go for EFAs but not public school funding, and what's up with schools in Steubenville, Ohio?
📰 Front Page
On Thursday, the US Department of Education notified state education commissioners to certify that each school district complies with federal regulations around discrimination and DEI. Thus, the NH Department of Education required every district and charter school in the state to submit a completed certification by this Thursday, the 10th, or the feds will receive notification that this school or district is not compliant. On a related note, the House Finance Committee’s final budget includes an anti-DEI provision for schools and public agencies.
📜 The statewide legislative session continues to be hectic:
The NH House is adding dollars to the Education Freedom Account Program but refuses to address state education funding, given that two funding court cases are hanging out there. Dems and Reps are far apart; even NH’s Republican Governor may disagree with the Republican-led approach.
The NH Legislature is weighing in on what books are in our school libraries. Three bills, if passed, would give parents and caregivers greater power to challenge library and classroom materials.
Childhood vaccine and mask mandates face an uncertain future due to current legislation.
A classroom cell phone ban will likely be enacted.
For more details on current legislation, check out NEA-NH’s legislative update.
🏛️ There continues to be a plethora of federal education news:
In overturning a lower court decision, the US Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration to terminate over 100 teacher professional development grants. As you might guess, the feds ended the grants due to DEI concerns.
While we’ve questioned the future of special education, the Office of Civil Rights, Title grants, and educational research, we now add early childhood education to that list. Massive cuts at HHS have meant closing five regional Head Start offices, including the one in Boston. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 calls for closing Head Start, but conservative (well, right of center) education site Education Next defends Head Start with qualifications.
Also, word leaked this week that the National Institutes of Health will be studying the causes of autism, a key presidential objective. This study will also include the unfounded link between vaccines and autism. (Thanks to the Washington Post.) Meanwhile, some NH districts are already affected by the USDOE’s fiscal policies. Will the USDOE keep its reimbursement promises?
Twenty-three US Senators, including NH’s delegation, expressed concern about the future of federal special education programming and funding through a letter sent last Wednesday. These lawmakers continue to call for full federal funding for special ed.
(From the author:) I was part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Principal’s Panel for over a decade. About a dozen current and past principals gathered together three or four times a year in Washington, D.C., at the USDOE, and we consulted on all things NAEP. We didn’t decide on the content; that’s the Governing Board’s job, but we consulted on various practices, such as the technology concerns when NAEP moved from paper to digital. This year, we were slated to be together on March 13 and 14. Then, the DOGE cuts occurred, and our two-day in-person meeting reverted to a two-hour Zoom meeting. Finally, hours before our meeting on Friday, March 14, I received an email with this message: “I regret to inform you that the meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to recent governmental changes.” The truth is that our leader, NCES and NAEP Director Peggy Carr, was fired by the Administration, and the entire department now has three employees. Will NAEP continue?
🎯 Extra Credit:
A heartfelt congratulations to a great friend and colleague Amy Doyle, who has been hired as the new Superintendent of the Hopkinton School District. She will replace Mike Flynn, who is leaving to be Superintendent in Derry. (potential paywall.)
If you’re a social studies teacher, remember that due to an anti-DEI push, the legendary Harriet Tubman and the history of the Underground Railroad are certainly heading underground. (Note: the site is now back up.)
Congrats to Camille Brance a junior at Making Community Connections Charter School in Keene and Dylan Jiang, a junior at Nashua High School South in Nashua. They have been chosen as National Youth Science Camp delegates representing a high level of academic achievement in science and mathematics.
The NH Fiscal Policy Institute’s upcoming webinar on June 3 will review the Senate Finance Committee’s budget proposal.
Congrats to Joseph Albushies, Matthew Kropp, and Emily Fauteux, who were winners in the annual Bow Rotary 4-Way Speech Contest held on March 19.
NH’s colleges and universities, including Keene State College, UNH, and Plymouth University, may lose tens of millions of dollars due to budget cuts.
Girls on the Run NH is a strong program that advocates for our school-aged girls. Kudos to a Peterborough Boston Marathon runner who has pledged to raise thousands of dollars for the organization.
Special education costs continue to rise yearly, and with outside funding at issue, several Concord area schools are considering banding together to centralize services. (potential paywall.)
Reaching Higher NH has completed a study on the town-by-town impact of budget caps.
Congratulations to the Merrimack High School Robotics FIRST team for winning the Impact Award and finishing as Event Finalists in the competition. The event was held in Burlington, VT. (Thanks to the Union Leader.)
Adele Dębowski of New Boston will present the Granite State at the National American Legion Oratorical Competition in Hillsdale, Michigan, on May 16-18. (Thanks to the Union Leader.)
The Office of the Child Advocate is a position being challenged in the state budget. Nonetheless, a new report from the Office states that between the summers of 2023 and 2024, 12 child deaths were reported across NH agencies.
A NH social studies teacher weighs in on “patriotic” education.
📖 Picks of the Week:
The Steubenville, Ohio school district is seeing excellent literacy results from its students. What is it about this rust-belt district that makes it so successful?
It’s a stereotype that elementary teachers are stronger in English/language arts than math. However, given poor national elementary test scores, should teacher-prep programs focus more on math pedagogical training for preservice teachers?
