Linda Addante

Dear House Representative members of the Education Funding Committee, I wish to register that I oppose House Bill 748, an ACT to establish a local education freedom account program. Our public school system is one of the few remaining institutions that bring people in a community together regardless of background; Our public schools remain important hubs for building stronger communities. Instead of spending even more money enticing students out of public schools, the legislature should be devoting its efforts to ensuring that the public schools in NH are adequately funded so that every child has an opportunity for an excellent education - as required by the NH Constitution. If HB 748 is adopted, would give local voucher students twice as much public money as current voucher students receive, yet we still have no evidence that our current voucher program is having a positive impact on student outcomes. Under HB 748, property taxpayers would have no way to know, and have no say over, how private schools or home schools are using their money - what do they teach? what materials do they use? how qualified are the tutors and other providers they pay with vouchers? How do they make their admissions/expulsions decisions? HB 748 would be financially devastating to many school districts, and once they discovered the problem and went through the difficult process of opting out of it, they’d be obligated to continue paying for existing EFAs until all of those students graduated or reached the age of 20. Under HB 748, school districts would remain responsible for providing special ed services to students who take vouchers, even though the state grant paid to the district on behalf of each special ed student would leave the district and go into the EFA account. Currently the state pays districts $2,185 per special needs student. The average extra cost of educating a student with an educational disability is $31,000; under HB 748 the district would absorb this entire cost while sending at least $12,900 to the student’s EFA. As a mental health professional, educator and parent I oppose HB 748. HB 748 If adopted will fundamentally rob our public schools of critical funding to serve the most vulnerable in our communities. Respectfully, Linda Addante M.D., M.Ed.