NH School Scoop - March 18, 2025
Saying goodbye to our NH Commish of Ed, federal education disruption continues, and school vouchers advance in the Granite State.
Front Page
🍎 Frank Edelblut, the NH Commissioner of Education since 2017, will move on. While voicing strong public support for his work, Governor Ayotte will seek a new head of the NH Department of Education. Democrats are cheering Edelblut’s departure, although he is expected to consult with the state until the end of the school year. Among other accomplishments, the Commish has successfully promoted an educational voucher system in NH. The State Board of Education weighed in on Edelblut’s term.
🇺🇸 Continuing upheaval with federal education policy:
While the Trump administration can’t close the USDOE, they can significantly diminish the department’s effectiveness. One way to do that? Cut half the staff. How do people feel about it?
A federal court has ordered the administration to reinstate some professional development funding cuts for teacher preparation programs. How much will slicing the USDOE matter to the Granite State? We don’t know if the state’s Title grant funding will be diminished.
The data and stats arm of the USDOE has been cut to a staff of three persons. What does that mean for the National Assessment of Education Progress and the National Center for Education Statistics?
The massive layoffs at the USDOE may have led to FAFSA’s student loan site being down on Wednesday. The USDOE applauded its FAFSA efforts while continuing to criticize the Biden Administration.
Twenty US states are suing the Trump Administration over the USDOE cuts.
USDA cuts could threaten the historic federal support for school lunches.
📜 HB 115, a significant expansion of Education Freedom Accounts, passed last week by 18 votes. This bill would eliminate income requirements starting in July 2026. There is a hearing today in the House Finance Committee, and then it would head to the Senate. If passed, HB 115 could raise the program’s cost by $10 million. Meanwhile, the Senate passed its own EFA bill, SB 295-FN, along party lines. The homeschooled population is split on utilizing EFA money. Here’s more on HB 115 and SB 295.
✨ Extra Credit
We are learning more about December’s PowerSchool data breach. It appears that the rupture included students’ names, ages, and addresses.
NH residents had the chance to speak out last week during hearings on the Governor’s budget regarding education funding.
Will the Trump administration continue to see social-emotional learning as a method to infuse students with liberal ideology? (potential paywall.)
Prompted in part by students who claim that racism exists in the the Concord School District, Superintendent Kathleen Murphy announced that an equity audit will occur this spring and summer. (Thanks to the Concord Monitor.)
House Bill 675 would do what seven individual NH communities have refused: mandate a school budget cap.
Extended Learning Opportunities, or ELOs, can introduce students to the world of work in creative ways. Gilford High School is creating ELOs for 10th-grade students.
Check out the NH Department of Education’s grant opportunities, including the Farm to School Gardens Grant.
This Friday, 11 NH high school poets will compete to be the state champion of the Poetry Out Loud competition. The winner will then head to the national championship in Washington, D.C., in May.
Legislation season is fast-paced, to be sure. We try to cover all of the “major” bills, but there is legislation going through its process in Concord that may sit just below the headlines: HB 129 defines what “evidence-based” means regarding education programs; HB 208 requires changes to school nursing certification; HB 384 is a revision to the state bullying law (at press time, this bill has failed); HB 671 establishes a new kindergarten readiness program; HB 741 permits students to attend a public school in NH outside their resident district and, HB 749 would require schools to teach about communism.
A shout-out to Pam Irish, retiring after 17 years as the TIGER Tour Manager. TIGER is perhaps the best NH-based assembly for students, highlighting a powerful anti-bullying message through theatre.
City leaders in Nashua gathered last week for an annual guest reading session for elementary students.
Do you want to attract teachers to the Granite State? NH was recently named the second safest state in the nation.
HB 524 may eliminate the NH Vaccine Association. What would that mean for Granite Staters?
The Boston Marathon is coming soon, but a new program will get our kids running. It’s called the Healthy Kids Running Series.
One of Senator Sheehan’s legacies was expanding public kindergarten in NH. Sheehan was also a former teacher.
While the President of Plymouth State University (PSU) disputed the student newspaper’s assertion that 30 faculty positions would be cut, PSU students demonstrated against the potential action last Tuesday.
Talented student artists created a new mural at the NH Department of Education in Concord.
It’s likely true that educators are preparing students for careers not yet created. However, it’s a good bet that computer coding will be in everyone’s future.
🧠 Picks of the Week
How often have you privately talked to a student struggling with emotional challenges? A neuroscientist offers solid advice for educators.
How do we teach collaboration amid an ever-burgeoning school curriculum? By using AI of course! NO, not this time! Let’s utilize picture books.
