HB1264

NH needs to increase oversight of the school voucher program because EFAs siphon funds from the Education Trust Fund... the source of funding for the state's inadequate adequacy grants. It's time to hold the EFA program accountable as we hold our public schools accountable with full review of student data and closely monitoring program expenditures. Somewhere around 90% of participants approved in the EFAs most recent EFA expansion were already in private schools, religious schools or being homeschooled. NH is subsidizing families that can already afford to have their children in private schools. Why is the state continuing a program with new spending while the state is still not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education? Please support HB1264 Thank you.

Where's the oversight on the EFA program? There is none. NH needs to increase oversight of the school voucher program because EFAs siphon funds from the Education Trust Fund... the source of funding for the state's inadequate adequacy grants. It's time to hold the EFA program accountable as we hold our public schools accountable with full review of student data and closely monitoring program expenditures. Somewhere around 90% of participants approved in the EFAs most recent EFA expansion were already in private schools, religious schools or being homeschooled. NH is subsidizing families that can already afford to have their children in private schools. Why is the state continuing a program with new spending while the state is still not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education? Please support HB1264 Thank you.

I support this bill.

With such a large sum of uncapped funds being spent through our state budget, we need consistent and transparent oversight and accountability of funds that are intended for the purpose of education access and development. The current legislation is not sufficient enough to allow for appropriate oversight that should be in place.

No tax money to fund this please

There must be strict oversight of who and why EFA'S are given - and the information must be made available to the public.

I do not believe that the EFA has the standards and accomplishments worthy of expansion, and believe that this bill will improve our oversight of the EFA program.

The EFA is contributing to the budget deficit in this state, while pushing more cost onto the backs of homeowners! Why should I be paying for rich parents to take their kids out of the public schools? The end result will be no more public schools - is that really what NH wants??? This program needs oversight. What other program allows people to take funding and then not report back on what it's spent for.

The EFA legislative oversight committee has done nothing!

The EFAs need more oversight than is currently being provided.

Please support and recommend HB 1264 as Ought to PassHB. This bill strengthens the EFA Oversight Committee by clarifying its purpose, and ensuring that its work is visible and accessible to the General Court and Granite Staters concerned with transparency. Requiring regular meetings, live broadcasts, recorded archives, and publicly posted agendas and reports helps build trust and accountability, all values your constituents expect from their government and their representatives. I am particularly encouraged that the bill directs the committee to examine student data, eligibility requirements, expenditures, and the impact of state education funding on local school districts. These are reasonable, responsible questions for the legislature to ask as programs evolve over time. HB 1264 does not predetermine policy outcomes or alter the existence of the EFA program . It ensures lawmakers and the public have accurate information and a functioning oversight structure to guide future decisions. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the committee to recommend HB 1264 as Ought to Pass.

I believe this bill would impose reasonable requirements on the oversight committee to improve monitoring of the EFA program.

We need guard rails on EFA. We've seen that by FAR the majority of families taking advantage of the EFAs are families that didn't have children in public schools in the first place. We are subsidizing families that can already afford to have their children in private schools. This is NEW spending that had not been accounted for. Our Education Trust Fund cannot support this AND maintain adequate levels of funding for our public schools.

More oversight is needed - people are using these vouchers to fund ski trips and buy Lego!

Oversight of NH’s education voucher system is long overdue. This should have been mandated at the outset, providing transparency that shows how and where our money is being used. NH is not the only state that’s coming to realize that voucher programs are costing way more than it was anticipated. Besides, I’m suspicious of any company based in Manhattan ($$$). More importantly, we haven’t seen any data on how the program is actually benefitting our students.

Education Freedom Accounts are fiscally and morally problematic. We need more oversight of EFAs in order to ensure these funds are being used as responsibly as possible.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE support this bill - there needs to oversight of the voucher program! Too much money is going toward these voucher with no accountability.

As a School Board member in Kensington I see the need to take a much closer look at how the money is spent by individuals using the voucher program. The Chidren's Adequacy Fund is far from doing their job in providing legislators and the public with information on how these funds; which serve only 5% of the total student population at a very high price tag are spent. Respectfully, Wendy Larson

I support this bill to increase oversight of this program that diverts public funds to unaccountable private schools. Though I oppose public funds going to private schools at all, since this program is sending public funds to private entities, it certainly must be the right of the public--the state--to hold these private schools accountable for properly educating their students. Is this exorbitantly expensive, over-budget voucher program effective? We can't know without holding these private school students to the same standards as public school students. Having no accountability is fiscally irresponsible.

The State is spending huge amounts of money on education with no idea whether these expenditures are producing good results. This bill will enable us to determine how effective those expenditures are.

The EFA program is fiscally ballooning out-of-control. The EFA program needs better oversight, accountability and transparency. We need to put the brakes on this runaway boondoggle.

EFA program is out of control and MUCH too expensive. There needs to be more oversight of where this money is going and that is for ACTUAL education and not vacations, hobby supplies, or lock picking instruction.

The glaring lack of accountability in the EFA program must be corrected. This bill to increase oversight requirements is a step in the right direction. We taxpayers deserve to know how EFA funds are expended and how students using them are educated, just as we do with the public school system. The failure to set standards, monitor, and report on EFAS so far is shameful; it raises questions about whether the goal is "freedom to learn" or simply wanton destruction of the public education system in this state. I strongly urge that HB 1264 be voted OTP.

I support this bill. It is essential that transparency, accountability and oversight are implemented in the Voucher/EFA program. We should know where the money is going and put controls on the am0unt that is distributed.

Increase oversight over EFA accounts re student data, eligibility requirements and expenditures