Sarah shaghasi

I am writing in opposition to HB 1578. I am a New Hampshire parent whose family participates in the Education Freedom Account program. I understand and support the need for accountability and transparency in the use of public funds, including ongoing evaluation of how the EFA program operates in practice. HB 1578 introduces extensive quarterly reporting requirements and mandates disclosure of student and family information to multiple legislative bodies and the public. While oversight is appropriate, public disclosure of detailed student demographics and family financial information is not necessary to achieve accountability and raises serious privacy concerns. FERPA limits disclosure of student data to situations involving a legitimate educational interest. Oversight of program spending and outcomes can be accomplished through administrative review and aggregated reporting without exposing individual students or families to public scrutiny. There are reasonable ways to improve program accountability without requiring identifiable or sensitive information to be made public. Aggregated, anonymized data can provide legislators with meaningful insight while preserving family privacy and trust. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the committee to recommend HB 1578 as Inexpedient to Legislate. Thank you for your time and consideration.