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Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
New Hampshire extends ‘education freedom account' eligibility to all students, regardless of income
Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up With this policy change, state-level spending on EFAs is projected to climb from Advertisement Ayotte said these numbers represent a fiscally responsible approach to a core commitment. 'As a mom, I can't think of anything more important than making sure that every child in this state has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential in the setting that works best for them in terms of education, and that's really what this bill does,' she said. Advertisement Ayotte was joined at a bill-signing ceremony by outgoing Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, lawmakers who supported the EFA expansion, and a cadre of children. The bill's prime sponsor, Republican Senator Victoria L. Sullivan of Manchester, said the legislation will help Although other states in New England have school-choice programs, New Hampshire's policies already ranked highest in the region in terms of ' With its latest move, New Hampshire has 'set a new benchmark for what educational freedom should look like,' Robert Enlow, president and CEO of Until now, the EFA program had allowed those earning up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level (about $112,500 for a family of four) to take money the state would have contributed toward the cost of their public education and instead spend it on private school or certain other educational expenses. Since the state contributes The actual financial impacts will depend in large part on which newly eligible students opt to participate. A student who uses EFA money to transfer from a public charter school to a private school, for example, could save the state about $5,100 per year, but a student who uses the money to continue attending a private school where they were already enrolled could cost the state an additional $4,400 per year, according to legislation's fiscal impact statement. Advertisement In 2021, when lawmakers first considered establishing the EFA program, the New Hampshire Department of Education estimated that What's more, critics have noted that a public school's overhead costs do not necessarily decrease at a rate proportional to the number of local students who opt to use EFA money elsewhere. Megan Tuttle, president of National Education Association in New Hampshire, said the EFA expansion 'will exacerbate the already inequitable public education funding system in New Hampshire.' Deb Howes, president of American Federation of Teachers in New Hampshire, said the state is 'underfunding' public schools, so it's 'appalling' that the EFA expansion will extend subsidies to families who can already afford to pay for the education of their choosing. 'That is the one priority they're going to fund in the budget, while Democratic Representative David Luneau of Hopkinton said spending on the EFA program could balloon more than the budgeters have projected. 'We're potentially looking at north of $100 million once this program is fully phased in over the next few years,' he said, calling the program 'an unaccountable and Advertisement The legislation that Ayotte signed into law includes a circuit-breaker provision to limit how rapidly the EFA program can expand. No more than 10,000 students will be allowed to participate for the 2025-2026 school year. If more than 9,000 students apply, then the cap will increase to 12,500 students in the following school year. (Whenever the number of EFA applicants exceeds 90 percent of the maximum, the cap will increase by 25 percent in the following school year.) Once the number of applications remains below the cap for two consecutive school years, the cap will disappear. There are currently about The state's EFA program is administered by the Steven Porter can be reached at
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Red state education officials eager for end of Department of Education
Republican states are embracing the idea of a future with no federal Department of Education, preparing plans for its Trump-promised demise and voicing confidence their own agencies can pick up the slack. President Trump has long called for the dismantling of the Education Department, and he's reportedly eyeing executive actions to gut its major functions while simultaneously pushing lawmakers to perform the coup de grâce. The heads of the education departments in multiple GOP-led states describe the move as a potential opportunity to get rid of red tape around funding and burdensome reporting requirements on their schools. The Trump administration is 'providing states greater control over the education of the children in their states,' said Frank Edelblut, the Republican commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education. Each state has 'different needs in order to serve our communities, to meet the educational objectives and needs of our children in our state,' Edelblut said. 'And so, we may have to do things differently. And so, I think, really, the conversation around providing states greater control over education is a really important and a healthy one.' Megan Degenfelder, Wyoming's GOP state superintendent of public instruction, said that Trump following through on the promise to eliminate the department 'really aligns with my belief that education policy should be returned to the States, allowing for more localized and effective decision-making.' The long-running fight over the federal department exploded last week after reports of Trump's plans came to light and Democratic lawmakers were locked out of the agency's headquarters as they were demanding a meeting with the acting secretary to discuss what the plans are inside the department. Linda McMahon, Trump's pick for Education secretary, is scheduled for her confirmation hearing on Thursday, and the potential destruction of her would-be job is sure to be a leading topic of senators' questions. While the Department of Education only makes up around 10 percent of K-12 school funding, it also runs numerous programs to assist states and protect students. Democrats' concerns around GOP plans for the department include future cuts and changes to programs such as Title I, which helps disadvantage schools, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the department's Office of Civil Rights. 'A productive partnership with and continued funding from the federal government are essential for North Carolina's students and schools,' said North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice Green (D). 'About $1.2 billion for North Carolina public schools comes from the U.S. Department of Education annually,' with the majority of funding going to Title I and IDEA, Green added. 'The complete loss of this funding would be detrimental to students and result in the loss of thousands of educator jobs.' But the programs some are most concerned about are the ones that Republican states seem most excited to take over. Edelblut told The Hill that on Title I, every year he hears from school leaders who 'think that the way that those funds are being distributed is not actually serving the best needs of our economically disadvantaged students, and that there may be a better way within the state of New Hampshire to allocate that.' Trump is reportedly looking to slash Education programs not written into law and vastly cut down the number of employees at the agency. The Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the department, appears to be among the first targeted for cuts, as it recently cancelled 169 government contracts. Experts speculate that the powerful Office of Civil Rights, which investigates discrimination cases against schools, could be moved inside the Department of Justice. 'I think it would be helpful to alleviate the burdensome reporting' that office currently requires 'and allow school administrators to focus on being instructional leaders,' said Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen (R), adding that the reports schools are made to fill out for the federal department are on top of the 'intense program' Montana already has for the issue through their own attorney general's office. 'We're already ensuring that things are being handled appropriately, and those [federal] reports are often very out-of-date and and not actually helpful in our work,' Hedalen said. Ryan Walters, the Republican state superintendent for Oklahoma who has vocally embraced Trump's agenda, is particularly looking forward to taking charge of the nutrition of his schools and special education. 'Special education has been one where the federal government continues to put red tape on this, and instead of helping those kids with special needs […] it becomes all this red tape,' said Walters, who used to work in a special education classroom. 'It becomes all this paperwork, rather than telling states, 'Listen, you need to make sure that these kids are getting a great education.'' The Hill reached out to the education departments in all 50 states for this story. Most either didn't respond or declined to comment, with many saying they were waiting for more concrete plans on the matter from the federal government. Trump's promise to eliminate the Department of Education is not possible without an act of Congress. And although Republicans in both the House and the Senate have introduced bills to do just that, it is unlikely members get 60 votes in the Senate to move the legislation to Trump's desk. Republicans argue the evidence states should take over is plain in the scores of students around the country. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently showed students are still behind in reading and math, and that the gap between high-performing and low-performing students is widening. 'When it comes to education, we've seen the federal department's significant spending power just hasn't translated into adequate academic results, and this is evidenced by the widening achievement gap and declining reading scores that we saw on the NAEP release just two weeks ago,' said Degenfelder. Degenfelder says she has confidence in the leadership at the federal Department of Education in following Trump's directives and changing the agency. 'I really anticipate having more flexibility to use federal funding to best meet the needs of Wyoming students and so without the red tape and bureaucracy from D.C., but receiving that funding in more of a block grant method,' she added. 'Then we can more effectively use those funds in ways that we know is going to work best in our state.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
12-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Red state education officials eager for end of Department of Education
Republican states are embracing the idea of a future with no federal Department of Education, preparing plans for its Trump-promised demise and voicing confidence their own agencies can pick up the slack. President Trump has long called for the dismantling of the Education Department, and he's reportedly eyeing executive actions to gut its major functions while simultaneously pushing lawmakers to perform the coup de grâce. The heads of the education departments in multiple GOP-led states describe the move as a potential opportunity to get rid of red tape around funding and burdensome reporting requirements on their schools. The Trump administration is 'providing states greater control over the education of the children in their states,' said Frank Edelblut, the Republican commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education. Each state has 'different needs in order to serve our communities, to meet the educational objectives and needs of our children in our state,' Edelblut said. 'And so, we may have to do things differently. And so, I think, really, the conversation around providing states greater control over education is a really important and a healthy one.' Megan Degenfelder, Wyoming's GOP state superintendent of public instruction, said that Trump following through on the promise to eliminate the department 'really aligns with my belief that education policy should be returned to the States, allowing for more localized and effective decision-making.' The long-running fight over the federal department exploded last week after reports of Trump's plans came to light and Democratic lawmakers were locked out of the agency's headquarters as they were demanding a meeting with the acting secretary to discuss what the plans are inside the department. Linda McMahon, Trump's pick for Education secretary, is scheduled for her confirmation hearing on Thursday, and the potential destruction of her would-be job is sure to be a leading topic of senators' questions. While the Department of Education only makes up around 10 percent of K-12 school funding, it also runs numerous programs to assist states and protect students. Democrats' concerns around GOP plans for the department include future cuts and changes to programs such as Title I, which helps disadvantage schools, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the department's Office of Civil Rights. 'A productive partnership with and continued funding from the federal government are essential for North Carolina's students and schools,' said North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice Green (D). 'About $1.2 billion for North Carolina public schools comes from the U.S. Department of Education annually,' with the majority of funding going to Title I and IDEA, Green added. 'The complete loss of this funding would be detrimental to students and result in the loss of thousands of educator jobs.' But the programs some are most concerned about are the ones that Republican states seem most excited to take over. Edelblut told The Hill that on Title I, every year he hears from school leaders who 'think that the way that those funds are being distributed is not actually serving the best needs of our economically disadvantaged students, and that there may be a better way within the state of New Hampshire to allocate that.' Trump is reportedly looking to slash Education programs not written into law and vastly cut down the number of employees at the agency. The Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the department, appears to be among the first targeted for cuts, as it recently cancelled 169 government contracts. Experts speculate that the powerful Office of Civil Rights, which investigates discrimination cases against schools, could be moved inside the Department of Justice. 'I think it would be helpful to alleviate the burdensome reporting' that office currently requires 'and allow school administrators to focus on being instructional leaders,' said Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen (R), adding that the reports schools are made to fill out for the federal department are on top of the 'intense program' Montana already has for the issue through their own attorney general's office. 'We're already ensuring that things are being handled appropriately, and those [federal] reports are often very out-of-date and and not actually helpful in our work,' Hedalen said. Ryan Walters, the Republican state superintendent for Oklahoma who has vocally embraced Trump's agenda, is particularly looking forward to taking charge of the nutrition of his schools and special education. 'Special education has been one where the federal government continues to put red tape on this, and instead of helping those kids with special needs […] it becomes all this red tape,' said Walters, who used to work in a special education classroom. 'It becomes all this paperwork, rather than telling states, 'Listen, you need to make sure that these kids are getting a great education.'' The Hill reached out to the education departments in all 50 states for this story. Most either didn't respond or declined to comment, with many saying they were waiting for more concrete plans on the matter from the federal government. Trump's promise to eliminate the Department of Education is not possible without an act of Congress. And although Republicans in both the House and the Senate have introduced bills to do just that, it is unlikely members get 60 votes in the Senate to move the legislation to Trump's desk. Republicans argue the evidence states should take over is plain in the scores of students around the country. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently showed students are still behind in reading and math, and that the gap between high-performing and low-performing students is widening. 'When it comes to education, we've seen the federal department's significant spending power just hasn't translated into adequate academic results, and this is evidenced by the widening achievement gap and declining reading scores that we saw on the NAEP release just two weeks ago,' said Degenfelder. Degenfelder says she has confidence in the leadership at the federal Department of Education in following Trump's directives and changing the agency. 'I really anticipate having more flexibility to use federal funding to best meet the needs of Wyoming students and so without the red tape and bureaucracy from D.C., but receiving that funding in more of a block grant method,' she added. 'Then we can more effectively use those funds in ways that we know is going to work best in our state.'
Boston Globe
30-01-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
N.H. students buck national trend in latest Nation's Report Card
Fourth- and eighth-graders took the test in reading and math. In reading, both groups scored in the top 10 percent of the nation. In math scores, New Hampshire fourth-graders were in the top 12 percent, while eighth-graders were in the top 20 percent. Advertisement New Hampshire's Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said in a statement the results show that New Hampshire students are getting back on track after disruptions to education and learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up 'While we like the direction the scores are heading, especially since New Hampshire has been able to buck the national trends, we would still like to see bigger gains across the board,' he said. Edelblut said higher performing students are making gains, which masks how disadvantaged and low-performing students continue to lose ground. Not all students are tested. A 'We must work to close that gap for the benefit of all students,' he said. Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the US Department of Education that conducts education data analysis, said in a statement that New Hampshire stands out because it is scoring above the national average in both grades and subjects. 'The Granite State's NAEP results are also encouraging as it has not experienced the pervasive declines in reading that we've seen in the last two years,' she said. Even though fourth- and eighth-graders scored in the top 10 percent of the nation for reading, fourth grade scores went down slightly compared to 2022. Math scores increased for both grade levels. Advertisement Christina Pretorius, policy director at Reaching Higher NH, a nonprofit education think tank, said the trends are encouraging. 'Our students continue to do well in math, reading, and science, and have made significant gains since the pandemic,' she said. She said federal pandemic relief funding has helped schools provide one-on-one support for students through math and reading specialists, in addition to mental and emotional health support, and updated technology. While she said those efforts are paying off, there's no indication the funding will be renewed, which leaves a question about what comes next, and whether the state will sustain those investments. Here's how New Hampshire students compare to neighboring Massachusetts and to the rest of the nation: 4th Grade Reading N.H. Score: 221 N.H. Proficiency Rate: 36 percent National Score: 214 National Proficiency Rate: 31 percent Mass. Score: 225 Mass. Proficiency Rate: 40 percent 4th Grade Math N.H. Score: 242 N.H. Proficiency Rate: 43 percent National Score: 237 National Proficiency Rate: 39 percent Mass. Score: 246 Mass. Proficiency Rate: 51 percent 8th Grade Reading N.H. Score: 264 N.H. Proficiency Rate: 34 percent National Score: 257 National Proficiency Rate: 30 percent Mass. Score: 268 Mass. Proficiency Rate: 40 percent 8th Grade Math N.H. Score: 280 N.H. Proficiency Rate: 32 percent National Score: 272 National Proficiency Rate: 28 percent Mass. Score: 283 Mass. Proficiency Rate: 37 percent A version of this story first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, Amanda Gokee can be reached at
