AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin 2024-13

In this issues:

• Subpoena Bill Tabled

• Part-time Teacher Bill

• Defeat SB 341

• Public Hearing on Minimum Standards

Action Needed – Defeat SB 341

Please tell your Senator that teachers are not spies for parents and that teachers do not belong in the middle of the parent- child relationship. Click the following link and tell your Senator to vote Inexpedient to Legislate on SB 341.Tell them to vote NO on SB 341.

Action Needed – Contact the State Board of Education regarding Education Minimum  Standards

The State Board of Education will hold two public hearings on April 3 and April 11, if you would like to express your opinion of these changes in person. They will also take written comments by email until April 30th. We encourage you to submit written comment to Administrative Rules Coordinator Julie Shea at this address Julie.r.shea@doe.nh.gov.

Over the next two weeks there will be a pair of public hearings on the proposed changes to the Minimum Standards for Public Schools, also known as the 306 rules. The 306 rules define a baseline of what all public schools must have for staffing, facilities and what educational programs they must offer. The draft changes to the 306 rules, given preliminary approval in February by the State Board of Education, will restructure our public schools and the way students experience their public education in fundamental ways. Here are a few examples:

By changing the word “shall” to “may” in reference to academic programs offered at the

• elementary and high school level, the rules reduce the amount and variety of classes public schools must offer (and fund.) Other changes make classes less rigorous. Why? Don’t we want high standards for our students?

• Shifts the role of teacher from one who designs learning activities and engages students in those learning activities to a bureaucratic, record-keeping role of one who signs off on competencies mastered elsewhere with no knowledge of the quality or rigor of that learning experience.

• Further de-professionalizes teaching by removing many of the requirements for

• schools to have certified teachers while also removing limits on class sizes.

• Takes the power of decision making over many educational issues away from locally elected school boards and places it with the appointed Commissioner of Education and the unelected State Board of Education.

For a more comprehensive look at what these rules would mean for our local neighborhood public schools you can watching this video from Reaching Higher New Hampshire. Reaching Higher New Hampshire has provided numerous informative pieces on the new 306 rules. You can watch a 20 minute video here ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKPjVbbHr-Y) or you can look at slides with further details here (https://reachinghighernh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Minimum-Standards-Public-Briefing-March-2024-1.pdf)