Volume 1 Issue 3
There were two very pleasant surprises at the end of the 2010 New Hampshire state filing period. Two representatives, who repeatedly undermined the rights of parents, failed to file for re-election.
Rep. Judith Day, sponsor of 2009 House bills 367 and 368, which were both defeated by massive opposition from the home schooling community, did not file for re-election.
Rep. Emma Rous, Chair of the House Education Committee and author of the inappropriate 2010 House Education Committee letter advising the NH Department of Education to increase regulation upon homeschooling in the same manner devised in the overwhelmingly defeated legislation in HB 367 and HB 368 (324-34), did not file for re-election.
Democrats Judith Reever, Charles Yeaton, Philip Harvey, Claire Clarke, James O'Neil and Kimberly Shaw did not file for re-election. Republicans Brien Ward and Pamela Price also did not file for re-election.
Overall, ten out of nineteen representatives on the House Education Committee did not file for re-election. There will be significant changes in the composition of the House Education Committee next session. Hopefully, NHFFE will help make sure a number of very good candidates are elected.
Karen Testerman is a Republican candidate for Governor from Franklin, NH. Karen was the founder and Executive Director of Cornerstone Policy Research.
NHFFE:Thank you for taking time to talk with us today. Do you support the right of parents to instruct their children without state oversight?
KT: A parents' right to the care and companionship of their children is a constitutionally protected right. This includes the right to the oversight of instruction and the state should not interfere without cause.
NHFFE: What do you consider to be the state's role in education?
KT: The State Board of Education is responsible for receiving and dispersingfederal funds and the Department of Education is responsible for setting the qualification and certification standards for all public schools and their employees as well as those standards for the facility. The Concord bureaucracy should honor the rights and responsibility of parents, should respect the educational choice made by parents and should facilitate the execution of that choice.
NHFFE:What changes do you hope to make as governor with regard to education in NH?
KT: The role of government is to secure the rights and liberties of each individual citizen. Every dollar of taxpayer money spent by government should be wisely and efficiently spent. Government whether local, state or federal should not spend what it does not have. The Department of Education accounts for 28% of our overall budget. The Department is primarily charged with oversight, certification and the receipt and disbursement of federal funds for PUBLIC schools. Over the years this department continues to expand the areas of interest and as such is a prime example of growing government. What are the results? Is taxpayer money being used efficiently and effectively? With the number of school districts designated as "in need of improvement" growing over the last six years under the federal No Child Left Behind, the question is whether the Department of Education is accomplishing the task they were assigned and if taxpayer monies are being effectively and efficiently spent.
NHFFE:Thank you for your time today, Karen Testerman
July 10, 2010 CNHT 12th Taxpayer Picnic, Hillsborough
NHFFE will attend the annual CNHT Taxpayer Reunion Picnic. Guest speaker will be P.J.O'Rourke! It will be held at the Hillsborough American Legion Hall on 538 Main Street in Hillsborough. Candidates for the NH House and Senate will be there. It’s a great opportunity to personally meet them and ask them how they intend to support parents and education in New Hampshire. It’s a fun event for the whole family, even the family dog is welcome. Don’t miss it! If you’d like to get involved and help at our exhibit table, sign up at www.NHFamiliesForEducation.org.
If you have an upcoming event which you think is appropriate for NHFFE, we would love to hear about it! We are happy to speak at your support group or member meeting. Please contact us at NHFamiliesForEducation@gmail.com so we can add it to our calendar.
NH Families for Education had an outreach table at the Christian Home Educators of New Hampshire convention in Manchester on May 28th and 29th.
Governor candidate Karen Testerman, NH Senator candidate Jim Forsythe and US Congress candidate Jennifer Horn spent time helping out at the NHFFE table. All three support homeschooling and local control of education.
At the convention NHFFE hosted the homeschool First Robotics Team, M.A.Y.H.E.M. from Milford. They demonstrated their award winning robot, explaining the mechanical construction of the robot after which a number of children tried their hand at controlling the robot. The robot delighted many of the younger homeschoolers, all of whom successfully managed to move the robot, pick up a large ball, and shoot it across the vendor hall.
The NH Families for Education is working for you. We are here to empower parents in the educational choices for their children. It is our mission to elect Representatives and Senators who agree with this philosophy and practice. Your contributions will be used to get these legislators elected in November. Please donate today.
New Hampshire Families for Education has launched its campaign to contact all state legislative candidates, asking them to file out an online survey which covers the most important educational issues affecting New Hampshire families. Based upon the results of this survey, NHFFE will be able to urge families to support or oppose state candidates on the issues.
A website has been created to tabulate the results of the candidate survey. Families will be asked to help insure that their local candidates are diligent in responding to this important survey. Individual ratings will be given to each and every candidate.
For highly rated candidates, families might want offer their yards to candidates to posts political signs of support, hold political signs on primary and election days, and write supportive letters to the editor. There are many ways to work to insure that NH legislature is filled with good candidates who will support the rights of families over the next legislative session. This will prevent the problems that plagued families in the 2009 and 2010 sessions.
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