By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD — A bill mandating teachers answer parents’ questions about their child “completely and honestly” came under fire at a public hearing Wednesday. 

The prime sponsor of Senate Bill 96, said he viewed it as a teachers’ bill because it would not put them in a position of having to decide what they can tell a parent, but others called it an attack on students’ rights, particularly to privacy.

“I don’t think it is a surprise to anyone the trust relationship with government is at an all time low,” said Sen. Timothy Lang, R-Sanbornton. “This bill is about restoring the trust of citizens and parents in the school system.”
He said the primary trust relation is between the parents and the school system and not the teacher and the student.

A parent should know if they ask a question they will get an answer, Lang said.

But Sara Tirrell, the mother of two children, said the bill undermines the relationship between parents and teachers and does not strengthen it.

“This bill puts teachers in an impossible position and leaves vulnerable students exposed,” she said. “This bill assumes parents and educators are on opposite sides. From my experience, that is just not true.”
The bill would force a teacher to disclose to a parent their child’s sexual identity before the child is ready, Tirrell said, noting her daughter was afraid if someone else had disclosed her identity before she was ready, it would have destroyed that relationship.

“This strips away students’ rights,” Tirrell said. “I fear the Republican leadership is more interested in making a political point than listening to real stories from families like ours.”

Rep. Stephen Woodcock, D-Center Conway, asked Tirrell if she agreed with the sponsor’s statement that the bill’s primary focus was the relationship between the parent and the school district.

Tirrell said she has two children and never experienced a moment when she felt their strong relationship with their teachers was more important than her relationship with her children.

“I want them to speak to other people,” she said, “even if it is not me.”

Rep. Loren Selig, D-Durham, said she was an English teacher before she moved to New Hampshire and tried to foster strong relationships with her students.

She said she talked with her students about many things if they were not ready to have those conversations with their parents and helped them until they were ready to have those conversations with their parents.

Selig said her children’s cell phones have the numbers of many “bonus moms” who they can talk to when they don’t want to talk to her.

“They tell me everything,” she said. “Sometimes I wish they didn’t.”
It is not up to teachers to fix the relationship between a parent and their children, she said.

“You love your child, no matter what,” Selig said. “Unfortunately a lot of parents forget that and their children have to reach out to teachers to be in a safe space.”
Bills like this are harmful, she said, noting they do not lead to better relationships between parents and children. Rather, she said, they sever relationships.

Lang said without the bill, many parents are being ignored by school districts unless they file right-to-know requests for information.

He said his bill acknowledges parents as the primary caretakers of children, not the school system.

“Completely and honestly is pretty easy to understand. It does not take a judge,” Lang said. “You know what is honest and a complete answer and I think a teacher can figure that out too.”

Woodcock said while the bill allows teachers to withhold information if they believe it would put the child at risk, what if the threat does not rise to the level of a CHINS (Children in Need of Services) report. Under the bill if the teacher withholds information they are required to make a report to the Division for Children, Youth and Families.

Woodcock said often children who do not feel they can talk to their parents turn to a teacher as a trusted adult.

A teacher should never keep secrets from parents, Lang said, noting there are provisions in the bill for reporting suspected abuse or neglect.

Lang said he views his bill as helping teachers because they are now relieved of the burden of deciding what they can say or not say to a parent and keep a student’s trust.

“This is an anti-student bill,” Woodcock said. “This negatively impacts students significantly. They need someone to speak with.”

Another bill sponsor, Rep. Michael Moffett, R-Loudon, said he believes that people today expect teachers to do things they never had to do in the past.

This idea of teachers as a second parent, he said, needs to be rethought to include grandparents, aunts, the clergy, a police officer or other adults.

“A teacher is a public government employee,” Moffett said. “There are all kinds of liabilities that go with that.”
The bill was opposed by the National Education Association — NH and the American Federation of Teachers — NH, the state’s two largest teachers unions.

Brian Hawkins of NEA NH said the bill appears to be setting up a parallel process leading to penalties although school districts have their own processes in place if a teacher violates school policies. 

He said the teacher could be in compliance with the district policy and run afoul under the bill through a parent complaint.

Hawkins said most conversations with parents are about homework, grades, behavior or how well a student interacts with other students where you could agree on what is honest and complete, but that is not true with “material information.” Who is the arbitrator? he asked.

He said the bill is aimed at teachers not school districts and asks teachers to juggle a lot of competing interests.

Hawkins said, “this sets up a confusing and in fact intimidating process for educators in schools.”

Deb Howes, president of AFT—NH said the bill gets in the way of teachers and parents working together as partners in the best interest of students.

“That is when students thrive in our schools when they work as partners,” she said.

She too was concerned about “material information,” noting it is not defined in the bill, and wondered how you prove you were complete and honest with the information you give a parent.

“In New Hampshire, parents’ rights are not absolute,” she said. “Students do have some rights.”

And she said the bill carves out a false sense of security with the reporting requirement to DCYF, which will not act on a report of suspicion of abuse, noting the abuse has to have occurred before the agency will investigate.

The committee did not make an immediate recommendation on the bill.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.