By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — Two bills that would “rein in” the state’s voucher, or Education Freedom Account program, through annual means testing of parents and greater transparency had public hearings Tuesday before the Senate Education Committee.
Senate Bill 203 would require the EFA program to annually means test the parents of children participating in the program, would require state grant money not used at the end of the school year to be returned to the Education Trust Fund, and require that the Legislative Budget Assistant audit the income eligibility of one-third of program applicants.
Senate Bill 207 would have the Department of Education take over administering the program from the Children’s Scholarship Fund NH, which is based in New York City with an office in Concord.
The organization administers similar programs across the county in other states with voucher programs, and also the NH Education Tax Credit Program.
The CSFNH receives up to 10 percent for administering the program for New Hampshire.
The prime sponsor of HB 203, Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, called it “a taxpayer accountability bill.”
Under current law a family only has to qualify under the 350 percent of federal poverty income cap provision when they enter the program and not again until the student leaves the program or graduates.
Under the current scenario, Altschiller said, “there is no financial responsibility on the part of the state, which is giving out millions of dollars in education subsidies annually.”
Other state subsidy programs like Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or SNAP all require annual means tests, she said.
“What was once a pathway for low-income families whose children were not thriving in public or charter schools,” she said, “has now become an unlimited money grab facilitated by an out-of-state clearinghouse.”
According to statistics from New Hampshire and other states with similar programs, 75 to 80 percent of the participants were not in public schools when they qualified, but were in private and religious schools, or home schooled.
Under the current cap, a family of four can earn up to $112,525 and a family of two $93,275. Altschiller said federal census bureau statistics list New Hampshire’s median income as $116,546, and the average state income of $124,062.
She noted a Department of Education compliance audit released last year that examined 50 applications in the first year of the program and 50 applications in the second year, and found that one-quarter used incorrect data to qualify families to participate for residency and income.
“It is not unreasonable to have the LBA audit the income for 33 percent of applicants,” Altschiller said.
Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, defended the program saying her family has had a wonderful experience and accused Altschiller of disrespecting families on the program by saying “money grab” and “subsidies for the wealthy.”
She said children would be hurt if families had yearly means tests to determine if the child could stay in the program.
Sullivan said her family had a contract that their children could be in the program until they graduate and what Altschiller was proposing would break that contract.
“This is a program policy decision, not an attack on your family,” Altschiller said, “this is a policy decision for the whole state. . . If you see a loophole in the program you should fix it.”
She said it is not fair to the state’s taxpayers if a family’s income increases and they no longer qualify. You have other choices, she said, public or charter schools, or homeschooling.
David Trumble of Weare noted the cities, towns, school districts and counties thought they had a contract with the state to pay 35 percent of their retirement system premiums and the state broke that contract costing them millions of dollars.
HB 203 would also prevent families from banking unused grant money with ClassWallet, which manages purchases and reimbursements for the program, by returning unused funds to the ETF at the end of the school year.
Altschiller said some families appear to be saving up for a larger purchase in the future.
Now there is no way to determine how much is banked in the system, she said, because that information is withheld and was not disclosed to the Legislative Budget Assistant for its performance audit of the program which is required by law.
One person testifying, Doris Hohensee, a former Nashua School Board member, said ClassWallet charges families 3 percent or the family can allow the company to retain interest on the money held.
Altschiller said the contract given to ClassWallet should go out to bid and would have to if the Education Department was administering the program.
She noted the department should be able to administer the program for half of what the scholarship fund is receiving which would free up $1.5 million under this current year which is projected to cost the state about $28 million.
Brian Hawkins of National Education Association NH supported HB 207 to turn administration over to the Department of Education saying it is “a common sense move for the legislature to make in light of last few years’ experience under this program.”
He noted the legislature delegated its authority over the EFA program to a private organization which has been given substantial authority to set up the administration, the details and the rules of the program, much of it not open to public scrutiny. “That is unique,” Hawkins said.
Not only do they have authority over the application process, they have broad discretion whether to and how to audit and if there will be an audit, he said.
The organization also determines who is a qualified provider, often at the request of a parent or the provider, and does that without any minimum standards, Hawkins said.
The rolling over of funds like HB 203 seeks to stop is important, Hawkins said, noting a study in Arizona, which has universal vouchers, found $360 million has been unspent and sits in carryover funds.
“That is a huge bunch of money for them,” Hawkins noted, “and for a state like New Hampshire with a very precious number of public dollars available for programs.”
He said with the fiscal challenges ahead, if the ETF runs out of money, the general fund will have to make that up.
Deb Howes, president of the American Federation of Teachers, NH, also backed the bills, saying there needs to be a better process for determining if the students in the program are getting what they were told they would.
There is no way to share the outcome for the child, she said and no comparison with the test scores of the public schools, whose test data is there for everyone to see.
The only standard is if the parents are satisfied, Howes said.
But Sullivan noted students have to either present a portfolio or take one of the standardized tests.
Howes replied the portfolio can be reviewed by any teacher, not just one in the subject area and none of that or the test scores are available like the data from public schools.
“All that remains with the scholarship organization,” she said. “That has been an area of concern when trying to perform an audit and still remains an ongoing concern.”
Howes also noted that if the department takes over administration there won’t be advertising on social media touting the EFA program to attract more families or education fairs paid for with the EFA money.
Historically vouchers have had a very negative impact on student achievements, she said. “We ought to make sure that doesn’t happen here.”
Trumble reminded the committee they have a constitutional mandate to fund public schools.
“For those who chose EFAs, you are under no mandate to fund these programs,” Trumble said. “There is no constitutional duty to fund private schools in this county.”
The committee did not make an immediate recommendation on the bills.
Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.
