SB431

This bill does nothing to address the fundamental flaw with the original "divisive concepts" bill: that it's blatant censorship, vague, leads to uncertainty about what can be taught, and that children have a right to know, and a society a responsibility to teach them, about difficult topics that affect modern day life.

This bill is discriminatory and is in opposition to the value of New Hampshire citizens.

The ban on teaching so-called divisive concepts is unconstitutional and has been overturned. This bill is not a fix for an unfixable law. The only cure is repeal.

One size does not fit all. What is appropriate for one age group is different for another. The teacher and individual school should make decisions on what should be taught or read by their students. Making district-wide bans based on one voice would severely limit appropriate teaching moments and materials.

This looks like Politically motivated and subjective proposal. I feel that a small group is vying for nothing more than power and control.There are always two sides to the story. You should have weighed both of these with no bias.

This bill is an insult to public school & education professionals. There are existing systems and policies to address any concerns about teaching materials. This is something school boards and districts work out and have addressed for decades. Leave them alone. The Legislature has no role here. Vote ITL.

BAD BILL. Mr. Trumble explained that Senate Bill 431 would limit students' right to an education that includes discussion of the United States’ history of discrimination. Those hoe don't learn history are doomed to repeat it. - 1976 Bronx NY " I would have rented to a friend." The response of the building superintendent on finding out my roommate was black. Also, I was taught the settlers and Indians were worked together for the common good. It was the '60's. I was very upset that humanity was going backwards. We were not taught about the Trail of Tears or smallpox blankets.

This is in violation of the US Constitution and will result in expensive legal fees paid for by NH citizen’s tax dollars. This is a waste of time and money as it is indefensible in a court of law, and is there for unpatriotic. I oppose this bill. Save our tax dollars for something that benefits NH citizens.

SB434 would allow a single person within a school district to challenge items and have them removed for the entire district. Despite mechanisms already being in place for parents to prohibit their child from accessing content and materials that they deem inappropriate, this would empower a single person to remove materials for all students - effectively censoring materials district-wide. It’s important that we trust educators to build inclusive and thoughtful classrooms where students can critically engage with a variety of age-appropriate materials, and not create easy mechanisms for censorship.

These bills harm our communities Censorship is violence Our children deserve truth, not erasure Our bodies and identities are not up for political debate Civil liberties must protect all of us; not just those in power

I oppose this bill because it is an attack on teachers' and students' freedom of speech that has already been found to be unconstitutional due to its vagueness. In response to the vagueness of the original version of this legislation, many schools and districts white-washed and limited the teaching of content that is central to our nation's history (e.g. the writings and history of people of color and queer people) because school staff were concerned that even raising these topics for discussion might open them up to legal action. The same "chilling effect" would likely happen under this legislation because adding "knowingly" doesn't change the difficulty of interpreting what counts as teaching discrimination under this law. Our students deserve the right to an education that exposes them to the difficult, challenging lessons of the past -- how our nation has made progress and prevented it at various times -- and teachers who can help them make sense of it. Teachers deserve freedom to do their jobs without fear of political prosecution from lawmakers.

Please do t allow one person to decide what children can / can’t be exposed to in schools

Please DO NOT Pass this bill. Educators have special degrees that allow them to teach young people about our world. They are human and have human biases, but they are still more qualified than most to decide what they should teach to children and how to help children gain critical thinking skills - which are important for problem-solving as adults. It’s important that we trust educators to build inclusive and thoughtful classrooms where students can critically engage with a variety of age-appropriate materials, and not create easy mechanisms for censorship. Please DO NOT pass this bill.

I am strongly opposed to this bill which puts children at risk of being outed against their wishes by school personnel they have come to trust.

Discrimination is all around us. In our recent legislation, in our jobs, and in the world. The moment we don't have to live in fear, is the moment teaching on discrimination becomes a history lesson versus a vital skill. I am telling you as a member of the public we need this teaching. I will pay more taxes to enable these classes to continue. Please do not pass this.

"Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it." If teachers are no longer allowed to teach about civil injustice, it will also prompt people to ask other questions such as, "Why do we have a Black History Month? Why do we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday?" It will undermine all the progress that has been made for civil rights, and will also foster racial and religious prejudice. Please, vote no on this bill!

It's the banned concepts bill again! Just hoping to bring it up again and again and again until it works?

This bill will deprive students of a full and honest education; a similar bill was deemed unconstitutional. Why would we want the state to spend more money defending a similar bill in court?

I have no idea what teaching discrimination is. Who determines that. This type of bill has been ruled unconstitutional before. We should not have to relitigate if.

New Hampshire is better than this. Censorship in the classroom is a sign of fear from far right folks who would like to whitewash our history. Let’s actually educate our children and not indoctrinate them as white supremacists hope we will do.

Let teachers teach! Stop hijacking education.

This is egregious- please pay attention to issues that really hurt people instead.

Let teachers teach, as they have trained to do and have always done. Stop trying to regulate every syllable and have some confidence in the good judgement of trained, licensed educators who have been hired by elected school boards in our communities.

I oppose SB 431. This bill looks modest, but it is anything but. SB 431 appears to be a sneaky work-around intended to revive, in altered form, the same “teaching discrimination” framework that was already struck down as unconstitutionally vague. Adding the words “intentionally or knowingly” does not fix the real problem. It simply tries to make an already bad law more legally durable while preserving its underlying purpose: policing classroom instruction through a vague, politically charged censorship framework. That should concern anyone who believes students deserve honest education and teachers deserve freedom to teach without fear of ideological interference from lawmakers. If this bill were truly about clarity, lawmakers would abandon this failed approach altogether. Instead, SB 431 keeps the same basic machinery in place and merely gives it a fresh coat of paint. This is merely an attempt to salvage a law that never should have existed in the first place. New Hampshire should not be in the business of reviving unconstitutional classroom censorship schemes. It should be supporting sound education, professional judgment, and clear constitutional boundaries. Please vote ITL on SB 431.

This attempt to fix the law that was ruled unconstitutional does not work. The legislature should simply repeal it.