NH School Scoop - May 6, 2025
Celebrate teachers this week, what the federal education budget proposal looks like, and a glimpse into NH teacher salaries.
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🧑🏫 We are in the midst of Teacher Appreciation Week!
Here are some national teacher deals , including meals and resort discounts.
Megan Tuttle, the President of NEA-NH, weighs in on the need to appreciate NH’s teachers.
ISTE/ASCD has produced this video to celebrate teachers.
✂️ While we’re still far from understanding the full scope of federal education cuts, the latest Trump plan offers a glimpse (potential paywall):
Title I is preserved, but 18 unnamed grants will be consolidated for states for a total of $2 billion.
IDEA is level-funded.
ELL dollars will be cut by $890 million, the total amount for Title III. Also eliminated are adult education funding at $729 million and migrant education dollars for $428 million.
Citing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) problems, preschool development grants will be eliminated.
About a third of the Office for Civil Rights budget will be cut.
Overall, about 15% of the US Department of Education’s budget will be cut, far less than is needed to fulfill the promise to close the Department entirely.
Many programs were not mentioned in Friday’s budget unveiling. Still, it appears that Head Start will not be slashed but the status of grants for teacher professional development, homeless, and school safety is unknown.
The Administration also cancelled $1 billion in mental health grants, which originated from the Biden Administration. Once again, DEI is the culprit.
📄 Here are some NH legislative updates:
The NH Senate appears to be putting off HB 741 until next year. This legislation mandates that every NH school maintain open enrollment.
The House Education Finance Committee recommended the flexible voucher bill, SB 295. It’s hard to say which voucher version may be passed.
Do you want to contact your local state representative about these measures? Here’s their contact info.
A critical event occurs today at 1 pm, when the Senate Finance Committee holds a public hearing on the state budget.
💻 In the first 100 days of his term, it’s been clear what Trump does not support in the education space. But he has fervently supported the infusion of artificial intelligence (AI) into our schools. (potential paywall.) The USDOE is directed to develop and provide professional development opportunities for teachers to utilize AI in their classrooms. Some say that, thanks to DOGE cuts, much of the USDOE’s expertise is gone, which would have helped make the AI connection from the federal government to local schools.
🎯 Extra Credit:
NH ranks 24th nationwide for teacher salary at about $67 K. However, the state is only 38th for average teacher starting salary. It is difficult for NH teachers to do much better given the significant funding responsibility coming from property taxes. NH ranks 50th in state funding for education.
Congrats to long-time NH Superintendent Sydney Leggett, named the new Superintendent in Regional School District 13 in Durham, CT. We will miss you in the Granite State Sydney, but you are heading home after all.
While we thought the Brown decision in the 50’s ended segregation, we’re only now getting close to resolution.
NH House Republicans are interested in auditing your local school district’s special education program.
HB 361 was passed, which prohibits schools from requiring face masks.
Congratulations to Ursula Askins-Huber, the recipient of the 2025 Janis Hennessey World Language Teacher of Excellence Award. Read more about this year’s NH Excellence in Education Awards in last week’s Scoop.
We’re waiting for a critical Supreme Court decision to determine whether the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school can exist.
The Bow parents who protested a transgender athlete are appealing their federal court decision with the US Court of Appeals. The parents wore pink armbands last September to protest a transgender athlete playing against Bow High School, and were prohibited from doing so by US District Court judge Steven McAuliffe. (Thanks to the Concord Monitor)
📖 Picks of the Week:
Few would argue that a little governmental funding oversight is a good thing. But, when special education students are mightily affected, the consequences can be significant.
While not written for the education market, this artificial intelligence update from the Harvard Business Review is enlightening. Check out How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025
