Granite Staters care about educational issues that impact our children’s lives and academic outcomes. In mid September we invited all New Hampshire senatorial candidates to send letters to School Choice for NH about their views on education policy, and educational opportunities in particular. We will publish them without edits between now and the general election on November 6th. We hope it is a helpful tool for candidates to share their views about important education policies as well as for NH families to better know candidates.
The following letter is from former senator David Boutin, candidate for district 16. This district includes the communities of Bow, Dunbarton, Manchester, Hooksett, and Candia.
Dear Friends,
One of the most important things that we can do as a society is educate our children. My wife is a public school teacher, my two daughters went through public schools and now that they have children of their own, guarantying that my grandchildren have the highest quality of education is a top priority of mine.
That is why I support school choice. I want to make sure that parents in New Hampshire are given every available option when it comes to educating their children.
New Hampshire has a great public school system. However, it has been proven that each child learns differently and a one size fits all approach does not always work for all of our children. Some students may benefit from smaller schools or an education that prioritizes the arts, or sciences. Some students thrive most from learning in a home school environment. The point is that we should give parents, the people who know their children the best, the opportunity to make those decisions whenever and wherever we can.
For some parents this means sending their children to private or parochial schools. However, not all parents have the financial ability to send their children to these schools. A quality education should not be reserved only for the rich. A child born into a family of modest means deserves the same opportunities as those born to a richer family.
Expanding school choice is good for students, good for parents and good for New Hampshire.
If I am elected I will support school choice at all turns. I will support more charter schools, expanding voucher programs and removing the obstacles for home schooling. I believe that SB 193 was a great first step toward improving parents’ educational choices and I would have proudly supported its passage. If given the opportunity, I will work with school choice advocates to advance both this bill and other similar pieces of legislation.
Sen. David Boutin
Candidate for NH State Senate – District 16