LEGISLATION UPDATE & HB 1642

APRIL 17, 2008

House Bill 1642 had its first Senate hearing yesterday. This bill, overwhelmingly supported by the House of Representatives, requires review and support from Senate Education and Finance committees. HB1642 provides one year of sustainable funding for the independent chartered schools--a bridge until the state's new funding system goes into effect in 2009-2010. A search of prior year legislation shows that quite a few one-year, emergency spending bills have been passed by many Senators. Given the financial pressure on these few public charter schools, HB 1642 should be passed by the Senate. With so much invested, these schools should not be pressured to close when the needed one-year solution is available.

The Senate Education Committee has 6 members and is chaired by Iris Estabrook of Durham and vice chaired by Joe Foster of Nashua. Each raised concerns at the hearing. Senator Estabrook suggested that passing HB 1642 would create “inequity in education policy, favoring the charter schools.” Many would argue that HB 1642 corrects inequity in our state’s education funding policy that leaves some charter schools with 30% of state average funding per student, no funds for their special education students, and no access to career funding, even if the school was authorized as career-specialized school.

The hearing room was packed—including students from Surry Village Charter School, Cocheco Arts & Technology, the Academy for Science and Design, and others. Students told Senators how they finally have found a school where they are thriving and motivated to attend. They and their administrators pleaded for this one-year of funding, which gives the charter schools the same amount of state aid as is now provided to some of the state’s other poor public schools.

If HB 1642 is positively voted from the Senate’s Education Committee and reaches the Senate floor, 13 votes are then needed. The cost of the bill is currently estimated at approximately $1 million. One bill sponsor suggested reducing the amount for a school that did not need the additional aid, further lowering the amount. Another sponsor offered an amendment to have the money transferred from current state aid allocations, adjusting at the state level. “What is $4,000 adjusted from many millions in state aid?” asked Representative Weyler. “The key to the obligation is the residence of the student, not the physical location of the school.”

Due to recent legislative changes, state-authorized charter school students have no guaranteed access to any public school funding from their home districts. Some districts, but not all, do provide an amount of local funding to their students in charter schools. Representative Ken Weyler’s amendment would provide the funding needed at no additional cost to the state using a charter school funding model adopted by other states.

Surry’s elementary school founder, long-time community member John Davis, spoke from the heart: “These small schools are our roots—this is how our country was built. These schools have a great place in our state system. The million dollars is money well spent to keep these schools up and going!”

Concerned persons can contact members of the Senate leadership or the Senate Education Committee. The HB 1642 hearing is continued to next Tuesday, April 22nd, 8:30 a.m., State House, Room 103, Concord.

 

We welcome questions and suggestions. So contact us. Know someone who might like our newsletter? Let us know.

---

 Telephone:  603.224.0366                   Fax:  603.224.8366
Postal Address: Concord, NH 03301 Email:  susan@nhschoolreform.org