State Sen. Debra Altschiller sponsored legislation to restrict future Education Freedom Account funding, describing private and home school options in stark terms, NH Journal reported. The bill was soundly defeated in the state Senate.
The senator’s view of the alternatives was blunt, according to NH Journal.
On Thursday, she denounced these education alternatives as “silos” of “indoctrination” with a dangerous lack of official government oversight.
NH Journal
Her bill would have changed who could qualify for future EFA support.
Altschiller is the prime sponsor of legislation restricting future EFA funding to students either first entering the school system or already in a public school.
NH Journal
It also carried consequences for some families already in the program, NH Journal noted.
Students currently in EFAs could face the prospect of being required to attend public school for a year, depending on their circumstances, to receive future EFA funding.
NH Journal
The measure had briefly advanced in the House before stalling in the Senate.
A version of her bill recently passed the House when, thanks to Republican absences, Democrats temporarily held the majority. But it was soundly defeated in the state Senate on Thursday.
NH Journal
Altschiller pledged to continue the effort after the loss.
My Democratic colleagues and I will not give up our fight for our public schools, and against sending our students to siloed and unregulated institutions of indoctrination.
NH Journal
School choice advocates pushed back on the characterization, NH Journal reported.
The seacoast Democrat’s description of private and home school education as “siloed and unregulated institutions of indoctrination” did not sit well with parents or with advocates for school choice.
NH Journal
Read the full story at NH Journal.
