NHCIS - Charter school news and updates

Greetings charter school supporters!

It's National Charter School Week and we have a number of charter school updates for you.

Governor visits Manchester Charter School 

Senate Finance examines HB2 

Legislators visit Academy for Science and Design in Nashua  

Please show your support for public charter schools!  

Moratorium update

New Hampshire makes national news by dropping 11 spots to #30 in nation  

The Center joins "The Facebook" 

Governor visits Manchester Charter School 

Students in Manchester had an exciting visitor recently when Governor Hassan stopped by to tour their new school. Mill Falls Charter School welcomed Governor Hassan to campus on Wednesday, April 10th, offering her (and her accompanying staff) warm coffee/tea and breakfast treats. The tour included a brief presentation of their start up story as New Hampshire's first public Montessori school and a presentation by two Mill Falls students who demonstrated how a Montessori work is used to master a concept.

Founder and Board Chairman Meryl Levin said of the visit: "The Governor spent time in all four of our classrooms, and seemed to really enjoy her conversations with the children and staff. She was definitely relaxed in the nurturing environment of a Montessori classroom and was impressed with the level of energy the students put into their daily work. She encouraged the staff to build good channels of communication with other public schools to engage and share our educational approach with the larger community."

   

More on the visit from Mark Hayward, Union Leader

    

Senate Finance examines HB2   

When is public policy just plain bad policy? When you include significant policy changes inside a budget bill and skip public debate on them. The charter provisions in HB2 (as passed by the House) are particularly troubling as a number of them would clearly discriminate against public charter school students.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee seemed to agree last Friday and questioned why such significant changes were not vetted in policy committee first? The atmosphere was bipartisan, serious and you could tell that committee members wanted to fix what had occurred in the House. Very positive!

Legislators visit Academy for Science and Design in Nashua

Students at the Academy for Science and Design recently received some exciting guests of their own when over a dozen New Hampshire legislators stopped by to tour the school. It was wonderful to see members from both parties present and engaged with students. The tour included a question and answer session and lunch with legislators giving everyone the opportunity to learn more about ASD and the work of the state legislature.

    

Please show your support for public charter schools! We are trying to consolidate a number of petitions. If you haven't already, please sign the petition. Thank you! 

http://www.change.org/petitions/please-show-your-support-for-public-charter-school-students  

Moratorium update

Public charter schools remain trapped in a web of posturing and politics. Whether by coincidence or by design, the BoE's decision to deny all pending charter school applications last September enabled some members of the House to take charter schools and over $5.5 million in federal grant funds hostage during budget negotiations.  

It looks as though it will be late June before the madness is over. If this ordeal has taught the state anything it is that we need to separation again between the entity that approves or denies charter school applications and the legislature which funds or does not fund them. HB299 would return the law to its Pre 2011 language and fix the problem however that bill is being held captive in committee. (See trump card video)

You can read more about the posturing and politics in this article by the Associated Press

NH makes national news by dropping 11 spots to #30 in nation

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has released its 2013 assessment of state charter school laws. New Hampshire made news this year by dropping 11 places to number #30.  

From the Report, "New Hampshire dropped from #19 to #30 because the state board of education enacted a moratorium on the approval of state-authorized charters".

The State had been making incremental but positive gains over the last few years. In 2011, a change to RSA 194:B removed the cap of 20 schools and made the State Board of Education a permanent charter school authorizer. Only a year later however, the Board denied all pending charter school applications.

The Center joins "The Facebook"

If you haven't heard already the Center recently joined the world of social networking on the "interweb". Check out our Facebook page for updates on all things charter schools.

  

About NHCIS

 

The New Hampshire Center for Innovative Schools is a NH registered non-profit whose members are committed to helping inspire the creation of innovative public schools in New Hampshire. We offer assistance to all New Hampshire charter schools and groups wanting to learn more about these innovative programs. Our services are free, we do not charge or accept payment for our assistance.

NHCIS - HB2 tragic for public charter school students

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PASSES THE MOST HARMFUL CHARTER SCHOOL LEGISLATION SEEN IN OVER A DECADE Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to support the most extreme, anti-charter school legislation that the state has seen in well over a decade. The provisions tucked inside HB2 circumvent the normal democratic process and throw New Hampshire's children under the bus of some very well paid lobbyists in Concord. A number of amendments were put forward in an effort to try and protect public charter schools however each was defeated, virtually along party lines. What is HB2? HB2 is the companion bill to the state budget bill HB1. Why do charter school opponents use HB2? Because it allows them to bypass the regular democratic process and skip public policy hearings in House Education. Because the House is only required to vote for the changes once as part of a much larger bill, i.e. it's easier to hide them. Because it makes it harder for the public to identify who proposed the changes. Because their lobbyists don't need to testify against public charter schools in open policy hearings that the public can witness. What provisions are included in HB2? The provisions in HB2 are particularly obscene as a number of them would clearly discriminate against public charter schools students. These provisions are the legislative equivalent, of injecting the charter school law with some horrific disease. HB2 would cut charter school funding by $2.5 million. It would not cut aid to district schools, it would increase it. HB2 would place a two year moratorium on new charter schools. This would likely result in the loss of $5.6 million in remaining grant funds. HB2 would release the Department of Education from its duty to apply for all federal funding for public charter schools. It would not do so for district schools. HB2 would remove a protection that allows the legislature flexibility for charter expenditures. It would not do so for district schools. (RSA 198:42 II) HB2 would require that charter schools perform program audits every 3 years, it is currently every 5 years. HB2 would require the Board of Education to approve changes in enrollment. HB2 would create a "study committee" consisting of legislators. The committee would likely be political in nature and lacks a neutral, third party evaluator experienced in the evaluation of public charter schools.

About NHCIS The New Hampshire Center for Innovative Schools is a NH registered non-profit whose members are committed to helping inspire the creation of innovative public schools in New Hampshire. We offer assistance to all New Hampshire charter schools and groups wanting to learn more about these innovative programs. Our services are free, we do not charge or accept payment for our assistance.

Seacoast School of Technology Accepted Student/Parent Open House

Regional Career & Technical Center welcomes next year’s accepted students

Exeter - The Seacoast School of Technology (SST) in Exeter will be hosting a two hour, drop-in event for recently accepted students and their families on Wednesday, April 3^rd from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

This year’s Accepted Student Open House will provide students and their parents with an opportunity to meet their SST teacher, get an introduction to the SST curriculum and learn information about college credit opportunities.  This is a drop-in event, with formal presentations beginning at 6:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. in each program.

Though this event is designed primarily for recently accepted students, it is open to the public and anyone who wishes to learn more about the opportunities available at SST.

The Seacoast School of Technology is located at 40 Linden Street in Exeter.  Open House guests are asked to park either on the Tuck Learning Campus, or behind the former Exeter High School Annex.  For more information about the SST Accepted Student Open House, please call 775-8461 or visit www.SeacoastTech.com .

NH House Finance chooses to play politics over helping children

  www.nhcharterschools.org

Today the House Finance Committee voted along party lines to derail a bill that would remove the moratorium on public charter schools and prevent the loss of federal funding.

The main proponent behind retaining the bill was Representative Dan Eaton. Coincidentally Rep. Eaton was recorded on video tape last week discussing strategy with a lobbyist. In the video Rep. Eaton thought HB299 would make a great political trump card to save for later.

Public charter school students, political pawns in the house.

So in a very political move, the committee threw New Hampshire's children under the bus and decided to play Russian roulette with millions in federal funding. We will post today's video later so that you can contrast the theater of today with the strategy discussed last week.

We believe that the final vote was 14-9

Vote to derail the bill?	Yes	No
Chairman Mary Jane Wallner(d)	X
Vice Chair Cindy Rosenwald(d)	X
Clerk Katherine Rogers(d)	X
Sharon Nordgren (d)	X
Peter Leishman (d)	X
Alfred Lerandeau (d)	X
Stephen Spratt (d)	X
Kenneth Weyler (r)		X
Mary Allen (r)		X
John Cebrowski (r)		X
Colette Worsman (r)		X
Daniel Eaton (d)	X
Thomas Buco (d)	X
William Hatch (d)	X
Robert Walsh (d)	X
Lynne Ober (r)		X
Karen Umberger (r)		X
Bernard Benn (d)	X
David Huot (d)	X
Susan Ford (d)	X
Neal Kurk (r)		X
Robert Elliott (r)		X
Dan McGuire (r)		X

About NHCIS

 

The New Hampshire Center for Innovative Schools is a NH registered non-profit whose members are committed to helping inspire the creation of innovative public schools in New Hampshire. We offer assistance to all New Hampshire charter schools and groups wanting to learn more about these innovative programs. Our services are free, we do not charge or accept payment for our assistance.

NH House Republican Alliance comments on HB299 vote in Finance

The NH House Finance today recommended Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) on HB 299 which would have removed a moratorium on Charter Schools.  HRA co-chair Pam Tucker stated, "HB 299 would have funded our public charter schools and given more choices in education to our students.  This terrible party line decision jeopardizes the future of new charter schools in our state and federal funding we might receive for existing schools.  While members of the house preach they want excellence in education, these actions state exactly the opposite."