Maura Murphy | Oppose HB1623

As both an educator and a mom with a child in a public charter school, I strongly oppose this proposal. Charter schools are unique communities with their own missions and student needs. Many families choose them because their children weren’t able to thrive in a traditional public school setting. That means every charter school looks a little different, and many serve students who need special education services to succeed. This bill doesn’t take into account how charter schools actually operate. Special education is already underfunded across the state, and charter schools often have to stretch every dollar to meet their students’ needs. Charter schools in New Hampshire already work with much smaller budgets than traditional public schools. A uniform pay structure would push many of them to cut staff, combine roles, or stretch educators even thinner than they already are. While a few schools might be able to absorb the cost, those schools should be supported individually—not used as the basis for a statewide mandate that hurts everyone else. Charter schools were created to be flexible and innovative. A one-size-fits-all pay structure takes away that flexibility and punishes schools for doing exactly what they were designed to do: meet students’ needs in creative, individualized ways. Special education funding exists to make sure students with unique needs get the support they deserve. Without proper funding, these students fall through the cracks during some of the most important years of their lives. Many already struggle to meet state expectations, and reducing their access to accommodations would only make things harder for them. For all these reasons, I urge lawmakers to reconsider this proposal. If the goal is to improve pay for special education educators, then the solution has to include more funding—not an unfunded mandate that puts charter schools and their students at risk. A better approach would be to increase special education funding, keep flexibility in how charter schools structure pay, and support hiring and retaining educators in ways that fit each school’s unique community