By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — Under a cloud of shrinking state revenues some lawmakers are proposing a bill that could add $102 million or more a year in state spending.
House Bill 115 would remove the salary cap on the Education Freedom Account program and will have a public hearing Thursday at 1 p.m. in Rooms 205-207 in the Legislative Office Building.
The bill would simply remove the sentence setting the current salary cap at 350 percent of the federal poverty level from the EFA statute, but has the potential to expand the program in its fourth year by four times its current enrollment if all eligible students seek state tax-funded grants.
And if other states who have already moved to “universal voucher” systems are any indication, almost all of the new enrollees will be students currently in religious or other private schools or being homeschooled who would in essence receive a state taxpayer-paid subsidy to reduce what the parents already pay for the non-public education regardless of the parents’ income.
While advocates call the program wildly successful as student enrollment has grown by 225 percent in four years, critics say the program lacks accountability and transparency, and mostly helps those with children in non-public schools, not the low- to moderate-income families the advocates touted would benefit from the infusion of state education money.
“People are saying ‘Hey before we make any changes to the voucher program, let’s see what the (performance) audit comes back with,” said Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton, the ranking Democratic member on the House Education Funding Committee. “I hope we hear (at the public hearing) someone from the LBA (Legislative Budget Assistant) talk about the expected costs or the exposure for the state.”
By statute the LBA is to do a performance audit of the EFA program, but has been unable to perform a typical performance audit because the data it needs for its analysis belongs to the state-hired administrator, Children’s Scholarship Fund — New Hampshire, and not the department, and the LBA has not been given access to that information.
Luneau said the program lacks sufficient management controls and accountability.
He noted it is not difficult to determine what the state’s potential exposure would be without a salary cap, well over $100 million.
Without a cap, he said, state money could be used for travel expenses to a private school in California or Europe.
“That is money on the table and that is meaningful money for anybody,” Luneau said. “This pushes the program way beyond what it started as, a program for low-income families, and this knocks the doors off that.”
One of the most visible advocates for the program has been Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy arm of the Koch Foundation which actively recruited parents when the program began and continues to hold events and “education fairs” to attract new enrollees. The organization has sent several emails in the last week urging parents to support HB115 to do away with the salary cap.
“Education Freedom Accounts have provided the opportunity for thousands of Granite State students to find an education that better fits their needs. This program should be expanded to all students, regardless of income. Show your support for this effort by joining us at the hearing. There are opportunities to sign in to support the bill as well as offer testimony. We are happy to help you find a way to make your voice heard!
All Granite state students deserve the opportunity to find an education to fit their needs!” reads one email from Liam Childers, Grassroots Engagement Director, Americans for Prosperity – New Hampshire.
Department of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut has pushed the program during his tenure and touts its success.
“It is clear that there is a growing demand for more schooling options in the Granite State. The Education Freedom Account program is offering lower-income families assistance to choose whichever school or learning environment best meets the needs of their child,” said Edelblut in a press release touting the growth in enrollment. “New Hampshire continues to deliver high quality educational pathways to families.”
In the fiscal note on HB 115, Department of Education officials said they could not determine how many new enrollees would result from removing the salary cap, but Reaching Higher NH, a public education advocacy group, believes the program could potentially hike program spending to between $102 and $130 million annually, which would wipe out the surplus in the Education Trust Fund in two to three years.
The group used Department of Education figures on the number of students in religious and private schools and being homeschooled, as well as those enrolled in the EFA program who receive additional state aid because they are in low-income families, use special education services, or whose native language is not English to reach its estimates which could be $130 million a year if all the non-public students seek grants.
Under the group’s analysis, there is the potential for an additional 20,125 students to join the EFA program.
The Education Trust Fund, created after the Supreme Court’s Claremont education funding suit decisions, provides nearly all state aid to school districts and charter schools and currently has about a $200 million surplus.
However, this fiscal year the money going into the trust fund from state revenues is $58.3 million below what budget writers estimated the total would be half-way through the 2025 fiscal year.
Currently 5,321 students are enrolled in the EFA program with a projected cost of $28 million and the average grant $5,204 million.
While advocates’ goal has long been to make the program money available to every student in the state, a salary cap was added when the program was approved in the state budget package for fiscal 2021-2022 to draw more support from lawmakers.
Advocates failed to convince a majority of House members to increase the salary cap last session, as the majority voted to kill a 425 percent poverty level on the last day for action on bills.
According to Reaching Higher, more than 75 percent of participants were not in public schools when they joined the program, while the biggest recipients of state tax dollars from the program are religious schools. Of the top 10 schools receiving tuition payments from the program, nine are religious schools according to the most recent data published by the program administer Children’s Scholarship Program NH, which receives up to 10 percent of state appropriation for its work.
The organization does similar work for many other states who have voucher programs.
About a dozen states have universal voucher programs and many have had financial difficulty meeting the costs, such as Arizona and North Carolina as most have cost — like New Hampshire’s — significantly more than original estimates.
The Ohio program was pushed by the Catholic Church to prop up its parochial schools which were losing students and facing closure, according to an article in ProPublica Monday.
Ohio has been sued over its voucher program as opponents say the costs are decimating public schools and others question if the program violates the separation of church and state constitutional principle.
Megan Tuttle, president of National Education Association — New Hampshire, said her organization seeks to work with lawmakers to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education, safe and welcoming public schools, and the support they need to thrive.
“Public dollars belong in public schools. Period. Any effort to expand the state’s unaccountable voucher scheme – yet again – is a vote to divert even more public dollars from public schools, which are attended by nearly 90 percent of New Hampshire students,” Tuttle said. “Instead of sinking more money into a program that its advocates refuse to place any accountability measures on, the legislature should support local communities by fully funding special education costs, maintaining or increasing aid to be able to hire or retain qualified educators, and funding building aid so that students have safe and health environments to learn in.”
People have already submitted testimony electronically prior to Thursday’s public hearing with 387 filing in opposition to the bill, and 182 in support as of Monday afternoon.
Tammy Cates of Nashua writes in support of the bill saying the EFA program has provided her family financial relief that has allowed their three children the best possible education for them.
“The school our children attend charges a fraction of the tuition fees compared to many private schools in the state, offering a more affordable option for families,” Cates writes. “While our children have never been enrolled in the public school system, we were still obligated to pay taxes that fund public education, in addition to covering private school tuition. It is a true blessing to now have the opportunity to use our tax dollars to directly support the education of our youngest child, who is still in school.”
But opponents said the program is really an attempt to destroy public schools which continue to educate the vast majority of the state’s children.
“Removal of the income eligibility cap is so far removed from what the original explanation of school voucher was in 2019 — to level the playing field for lower income families to find the best suited learning environment for their children — that sponsors of this bill should be ashamed,” said Liz Tentarelli of Manchester, the president of the League of Women Voters New Hampshire. “One more step in defunding public schools.”
Legislative officials anticipate a large turnout for the public hearing, which will be live-streamed on the House YouTube Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxqjz56akoWRL_5vyaQDtvQ/videos
Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.
