The following is the legislative schedule for the week of April 11, 2016. There are two particularly important bills this week, identified with asterisk marks — one has a public hearing with the Senate Education Committee, and one will be exec’d by the House Education Committee. The public has until the executive sessions to impact the committees’ recommendations, which are very influential when the full House and Senate vote. All contact information is at the end of this post.
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016: SENATE EDUCATION, ROOM 207, LOB
Regular meeting for the following study commission
9:00 a.m. Commission to study issues relating to students receiving special education services while attending a chartered public school (RSA 186-C:30).
information — This commission is the result of HB 126 (2015). Here is the link to follow this study committee. It may impact HB 536 which has a public hearing in the Senate Education Committee the following day. This commission will meet again on April 18.
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016: SENATE EDUCATION, ROOM 103, LOB
Public hearings for the following bills
9:00 a.m. HB 1130, relative to placement on school property of a memorial or memorial plaque honoring those who have died during military service.
9:10 a.m. HB 1644-FN, relative to screening and intervention for dyslexia and related disorders and establishing a reading specialist position in the department of education.
9:30 a.m. HB 1372, permitting a child with a disability to use audio or video recording devices in the classroom.
position — SUPPORT
information — This supports students who have IEPs requiring adaptive technology.
10:00 a.m. ***HB 1637-FN, relative to school attendance in towns with no public schools.
position — SUPPORT
information — This bill clarifies in statute that small towns without their own public schools may offer alternative arrangements for their students, regardless of grade level. These agreements could be made with area public and private schools. This is consistent with RSA 194:22 and RSA 193:1. It is also in line with other NH districts creating tuition agreements with private schools, even some located out of state. Please join us at the public hearing. For additional information, read HB 1637 — School Choice for Small Towns and Guarantee of an Adequate Education. For more information regarding Croydon’s program, read NH DOE Fails to Get Injunction Against Croydon and Response to the NH DOE and Attorney General.
EXECUTIVE SESSION MAY FOLLOW
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016: HOUSE EDUCATION, ROOM 207, LOB
10:00 a.m. Executive sessions on the following bills
***SB 503-FN-A, relative to pre-kindergarten education using “pay for success” financing.
position — OPPOSE
information — This is similar to SB 69 (2015), but takes it a major step further. Instead of a study committee like last year, the current bill would create a commission to implement a public preschool program funded through “pay for success” or social impact bonds (SIBs). These “pay for success” experiments are still unproven to justify a launch in New Hampshire. The bill’s original fiscal note is for $10M to support a grade level outside compulsory attendance. NH has many other important commitments to our public education system than to support an optional and experimental program. To complicate the proposal even more, these early childhood programs do not produce long-term gains for our youngest learners. For more information, read Noble Goals Funded with Public-Private Partnerships — What Could Go Wrong?. Also read Noble Goals of Pre-K Programs Fail to Deliver and Testimony for SB 69 that reference the 2015 bill, but still apply to the current one. For more information on social impact bonds, read Are Governments “Paying for Failure” With Social Impact Bonds” by Governing, August 2015.
SB 326, relative to the membership of the community college system of New Hampshire board of trustees.
SB 483-FN, (New Title) establishing a committee to study the necessity of creating a chartered public school program officer position and to study appropriations to chartered public schools for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2016: SENATE SESSION, Senate Chamber at 10:00am
full NH Senate will vote on the following bills
HB 1239, relative to certain terminology in the education statutes.
committee recommendation — Ought to Pass, 4-0
HB 1300, relative to the content of patriotic exercises in public schools.
committee recommendation — Ought to Pass, 3-1
HB 1303, establishing a commission to study issues relating to pre-existing districts withdrawing from a cooperative school district.
committee recommendation — Ought to Pass with Amendment, 4-0 (#1296s)
position — SUPPORT
information — This is a combination of three bills – HB 1201, HB 1364, and HB 1303, merged into a single study commission bill. It was clear during the House Education Committee’s public hearing that this is a very complicated issue re local control with competing interests and various cooperative district agreement structures. The Senate Education Committee’s amendment adjusts the composition of the study commission.
HB 1497, relative to the limits on disclosure of information used on college entrance exams.
committee recommendation — Ought to Pass, 4-0
position — SUPPORT
information — This is a positive privacy policy. It would have testing agencies destroy personal information once the assessment is completed, verified, and transmitted to the district or school so it cannot be used for additional test-data analysis. The common college admission tests, the SAT and ACT, are exempt from this legislation.
CONTACT LEGISLATORS
To contact the entire House Education Committee, you may send one email to HouseEducationCommittee@leg.state.nh.us. The General Court website is experiencing several technical difficulties (the committee’s email is not always working), so consider contact the Representatives directly. Particularly mention if you are a constituent. Emails for each member of the House Education Committee are as follows:
ladd.nhhouse@charter.net
john.balcom@leg.state.nh.us
beshaw3@comcast.net
ralph.boehm@leg.state.nh.us
bob.elliott@leg.state.nh.us
josh.moore@leg.state.nh.us
terry.wolf@leg.state.nh.us
junemf@comcast.net
deanna1214@aol.com
glenn.cordelli@leg.state.nh.us
cradams13@charter.net
Jason@Osborne4NH.com
Mary.Gile@leg.state.nh.us
Andrew.Schmidt@leg.state.nh.us
Mary.Heath@leg.state.nh.us
jimgreniersullivan7@gmail.com
Allen.cook@leg.state.nh.us
patchessul@comcast.net
mqgorman@comcast.net
Mel.Myler@leg.state.nh.us
james.verschueren@leg.state.nh.us
To find your NH senator, and his or her contact information, refer to the senate’s roster page, or you can email all of them at senators@leg.state.nh.us. Those with an asterisk serve on the Senate Education Committee.
Jeff Woodburn — District 1, Dalton
Jeff.Woodburn@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3207
Jeanie Forrester — District 2, Meredith
jeanie.forrester@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-4980
Jeb Bradley — District 3, Wolfeboro
jeb.bradley@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-2106
*David Watters — District 4, Dover
david.watters@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-8631
David Pierce — District 5, Lebanon
david.pierce@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3067
Sam Cataldo — District 6, Farmington
sam.cataldo@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-4063
Andrew Hosmer — District 7, Laconia
andrew.hosmer@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-8631
Gerald Little — District 8, Weare
Jerry.Little@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-4151
Andy Sanborn — District 9, Bedford
andy.sanborn@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-2609
*Molly Kelly — District 10, Keene
molly.kelly@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3207
Gary Daniels — District 11, Milford
Gary.Daniels@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-2609
*Kevin Avard — District 12, Nashua
Kevin.Avard@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-4151
Bette Lasky — District 13, Nashua
bette.lasky@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3091
Sharon Carson — District 14, Londonderry
sharon.carson@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-1403
Dan Feltes — District 15, Concord
Dan.Feltes@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3067
David Boutin — District 16, Hooksett/Manchester
dboutin1465@comcast.net
(603)271-3092
*John Reagan — District 17, Deerfield
john.reagan111@gmail.com
(603)271-4063
Donna Soucy — District 18, Manchester
donna.soucy@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3207
Regina Birdsell — District 19, Hampstead/Windham/Derry
Regina.Birdsell@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-4151
Lou D’Allesandro — District 20, Manchester
dalas@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-2117
Martha Fuller Clark — District 21, Portsmouth
martha.fullerclark@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3076
Chuck Morse — District 22, Salem
chuck.morse@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-8472
Russell Prescott — District 23, Kingston
represcott@represcott.com
(603)271-3074
*Nancy Stiles — District 24, Hampton
nancy.stiles@leg.state.nh.us
(603)271-3093
