SB 219, The Students First Act—introduced by Senator Keith Murphy—will be heard by the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. This important bill will crack down on sprawling, expensive school administration in New Hampshire and ensure that education spending prioritizes students first.
New Hampshire schools often point to low-paid teachers as an example of why schools need more funding. In reality, while school taxes and spending have increased for decades, almost none of that money has ever gone to teacher salaries.
Instead, our public school system has created giant, highly-paid bureaucracies of administrators and full-time diversity professionals—any one of whom can expect to rake in the salaries of three or more low-paid teachers combined.
Conservatives have long fought a losing battle on this issue by casting themselves as anti-teacher, arguing that teachers who make less than starting salaries at McDonalds are “actually overpaid.” This unpopular argument misses the point and plays into a trap created by school administrations. Teacher pay is not the reason school taxes are increasing: NH teacher pay has increased by only 1% in 20 years, while our number of non-teaching staff has increased by 80%.
To finally stop endlessly-increasing school costs, conservatives must reframe the debate. As NH Board of Education member Ryan Terrell has argued, NH teacher pay is not low because schools are underfunded, but because education spending is being systematically abused across the state.
Local school boards, who cannot see the forest through the trees, have failed to perceive and correct this problem. The legislature must step in and ensure that, if a school district wants to hire six-figure diversity professionals and other high-paid administrators, they must pay teachers first.
SB 219 will neither mandate increases nor decreases in your local school spending. What it will mandate is a difference in how your school district and SAU prioritizes its spending of your money: unless teachers are paid first, large administrations may no longer be hired. It’s time to put students first.
WHEN: There will be a public hearing on SB 219 before the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, February 14, at 9:30 AM in the Legislative Office Building, Room 101.
CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS an amendment to this bill introduced by NH Senator Keith Murphy which corrects various typos and errors contained in the original bill. Cornerstone advocates that the bill be passed with the amendment.
As New Hampshire State Board of Education member Ryan Terrell explains in his recent Union Leader op-ed published January 2nd, over the past two decades, New Hampshire’s cost-per-pupil has increased by 77%, adjusted for inflation, while our teacher salaries have increased by only 1%.
New Hampshire’s systemic misuse of education spending is a vicious cycle. Seeing that teachers are often borderline impoverished, communities respond by increasing school taxes and spending. Schools then use that money to pay bureaucrats and the cycle repeats.
SB 219 would break this cycle by placing more value and emphasis on teachers and students, rather than allowing more and more of our educational dollars to be pocketed by bureaucratic administrations.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Register your support for SB 219 by signing in in support of the bill here.
You can find step-by-step instructions on how to sign in here.
2. Submit written testimony. You can do this when you sign in. Simply hit “choose file” under step number four to upload a document with your testimony, or type your testimony into the provided box. If you are submitting written testimony, we ask that you specify that you support the amendment introduced by Keith Murphy, not the original bill. The amendment proposed by Senator Murphy simply fixes some typos and errors in the original bill.
3. We urge you to come testify in person, especially if you have observed and are concerned about specific examples of top-heavy, large school administration in your community. We have step-by-step instructions on how to testify here. You can also reach out to us at cornerstone@nhcornerstone.
Important Note: A number of people have had issues with the Senate remote sign-in page. If you are encountering problems, you can also email the committee directly registering your support for the bill and/or submitting written testimony. You can find their contact info here. If you are emailing the committee, we ask that you specify that you support the amendment introduced by Keith Murphy, not the original bill. The amendment proposed by Senator Murphy simply fixes some typos and errors in the original bill.
More Attacks on the Fetal Life Protection Act! HB 271: Repealing the Fetal Life Protection Act. SUMMARY: HB 271 is a bill that would repeal the Fetal Life Protection Act, or FLPA. In New Hampshire, abortion is heavily restricted after the 24 weeks by the FLPA; this bill would enable unrestricted abortions up to full-term. STATUS: There will be a public hearing of HB 271 before the House Judiciary Committee this coming week. Following a hearing, a committee votes to either recommend the bill to the full House as OTP (Ought to Pass) or ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate). This is the first step in passing or defeating a bill. The testimony of citizens submitted at these hearings, especially in person, is influential in determining what recommendation a committee will make on a bill. WHEN: Wednesday, February 15, at 10:30 AM in the Legislative Office Building, rooms 206-208. CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES this bill. HB 224: Repealing the Criminal and Civil Penalties of the Fetal Life Protection Act. SUMMARY: HB 224 is a bill that would repeal all criminal and civil legal penalties against health care providers for violating the Fetal Life Protection Act. If this bill were to pass, it would no longer be a class B felony for any health care provider to perform or induce an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy. STATUS: There will be a public hearing of HB 224 before the House Judiciary Committee this coming week. Following a hearing, a committee votes to either recommend the bill to the full House as OTP (Ought to Pass) or ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate). This is the first step in passing or defeating a bill. The testimony of citizens submitted at these hearings, especially in person, is influential in determining what recommendation a committee will make on a bill. WHEN: Wednesday, February 15, at 2:30 PM in the Legislative Office Building, rooms 206-208. WHY: Both HB 271 and HB 224 threaten the Fetal Life Protection Act, and would return us to a state that has virtually no abortion restrictions. The FLPA is New Hampshire’s only protection for pre-born children. New Hampshire made history by going from a state that allowed abortion for any reason up to birth, to protecting pre-born children who are at least 24 weeks old. HB 224 stands as the main threat to pre-born life, as our governor, Chris Sununu, has called to remove the penalties for violating the Fetal Life Protection Act. A pro-choice individual, he is the only Republican governor in America pushing for abortion up to birth, and has pledged to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Additionally, Chris Sununu personally lobbied for a functionally identical bill, HB 1609, in the House just last year. As New Hampshire’s sole restriction on abortion, the FLPA only defends pre-born children who could live outside the womb, were they delivered. HB 271 and HB 224 would eliminate these vital protections for late-term pre-born in New Hampshire. In order to protect these children in their last months, we need support and testimony from our pro-life community to help our lawmakers make the right decision to continue to protect these precious lives. WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1. Register your opposition for HB 271 and HB 224 by signing in opposing the bills here. It is important that you sign in two times, opposing both bills. You can find step-by-step instructions on how to sign in here. 2. Submit written testimony. You can do this when you sign in. Simply hit “choose file” under step number four to upload a document with your testimony, or type your testimony into the provided box. 3. We urge you to come and testify in person, especially if you fall under one of the following categories:
We have step-by-step instructions on how to testify here. You can also reach out to us at cornerstone@nhcornerstone.org if you have any questions about the testifying process. Important Note: A number of people have had issues with the House remote sign-in page. If you are encountering problems, you can also email the committee directly registering your support for the bill and/or submitting written testimony. You can find their contact info here or email the full committee at 4. Additionally, we encourage you to educate yourself on the Fetal Life Protection Act. Cornerstone has produced a 3-minute video to explain the history, context, and content of the FLPA. We urge you to take a few minutes to watch the video and share it with your friends and family.
Support the Family in New Hampshire! HB 294: Enabling municipalities to adopt a child tax credit. STATUS: There was a public hearing for HB 294 on January 26, for which individuals could submit opposition or testimony. The bill will now be voted on by the House Municipal and County Government Committee. The committee votes to either recommend the bill to the full House as OTP (Ought to Pass) or ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate). This is the first step in passing or defeating a bill. WHEN: The House Municipal and County Government Committee will vote on HB 294 on February 15, at 10:30 AM. CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS this bill. WHY: New Hampshire is experiencing a rapidly growing crisis that has received far less attention than it deserves – our state is becoming catastrophically old. For New Hampshire to remain competitive, we must give our communities more tools to attract and retain young families. Simply stated, without young families and workers to replace those who are retiring, the economy, local services, and even the continuity of communities are in serious jeopardy. HB 294 paves the way for municipalities to consider child tax credits in their planning. This would be an important first step in recognizing the importance of children and families to the future of our state. WHAT YOU CAN DO: There is still time to voice your support of HB 294 before the Municipal and County Government Committee casts their vote. While you can no longer register your support of the bill or testify in person, you can still make your voice heard by calling the committee. Please call the committee at 603-271-3125, as calling is the most effective way to make your voice heard. However, if you cannot call the committee, we encourage you to email testimony and support to the members. You can find the Municipal and County Government Committee contact info here or email the full committee at HouseMunicipalandCountyGovt@ |
