We encourage all of our activists to call or email their State Representative and State Senator, write letters to the editor (LTEs), testify and/or register positions on these important bills! To contact your lawmakers and express your thoughts on upcoming legislation, click here.
Take Action By Tuesday
There are 3 bills highlighted this week, all related to public education. Use the Senate Remote Sign In Tool to voice your support/opposition. Below are details and steps to have your voice heard.
SUPPORT HB1583-FN-A, relative to the per pupil cost of an opportunity for an adequate education.
ACT BY TUESDAY EVENING
1. Sign into the Senate Remote Sign In Tool to voice your support.
2. Select:
3. Click: "I support this bill", then hit the submit button at the bottom of the form.
4. Enter your personal information.
Email the Senate Finance committee members: Support HB1583 by also emailing the committee here. This is a handy form that will generate an email to all committee members. Consider modifying the boilerplate language and use your own words to make your email stand out and be more impactful.
OPPOSE HB1205, relative to women’s school sports. This bill requires schools to designate athletics by sex and prohibits biological males from participating in female athletics.
ACT BY TUESDAY
1. Sign into the Senate Remote Sign In Tool to voice your opposition.
2. Select:
3. Click: "I oppose this bill", then hit the submit button at the bottom of the form.
4. Enter your personal information.
Email the Senate Education committee members: Oppose HB1205 by also emailing the committee here. This is a handy form that will generate an email to all committee members. Consider modifying the boilerplate language and use your own words to make your email stand out and be more impactful.
SUPPORT HB1311, relative to school district collection development and reconsideration policies. This bill requires school boards to adopt policies governing library media collections and the reconsideration of library materials.
House Democrats' support statement: This bill, the Students’ Freedom to Read bill, requires school boards to adopt policies governing library media collections and the reconsideration of library materials. The bill requires schools to have a collection development policy and a reconsideration policy to address parent and guardian requests to remove library materials developed by the locally elected school board. Many school districts already have policies and procedures in place. This bill was developed in collaboration with diverse education stakeholder groups including the NH School Library Media Association. Transparent processes for addressing and resolving requests to remove materials meet the needs of concerned parents and guardians. Nationally, more than half of the materials that were targeted for removal in 2023 were by and about people of color, Indigenous people, and LBGBTQ+ individuals. Students, regardless of their gender identity, race, sexual orientation, or ability have the right to see themselves represented in their school libraries. The bill offers a balanced approach that respects the rights of educators, students, and parents. The bill requires that policies must be in substantial compliance with New Hampshire’s public education nondiscrimination laws which ensure that schools do not simply remove materials based on an author or subject’s identity within these protected classes. Based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Pico case school boards may not remove books that “prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion.” This Students’ Freedom to Read bill is common sense, bipartisan legislation which helps us prevent discrimination, preserves local control, and guarantees concerned parents and guardians due process. - Rep. Linda Tanner (D-Georges Mills)
ACT BY TUESDAY
1. Sign into the Senate Remote Sign In Tool to voice your support.
2. Select:
3. Click: "I support this bill", then hit the submit button at the bottom of the form.
4. Enter your personal information.
Extra Credit ACT BY WEDNESDAY:
Email or call all your State Representatives and ask them to OPPOSE SB341. You may look up contact information for your State Representatives here.
OPPOSE SB341, relative to mandatory disclosure by school district employees to parents. This bill requires all school employees to respond honestly and completely to written requests by parents regarding information relating to their children.
House Democrats' opposition statement: On the surface, this bill proposes what we all would like – for school districts and parents to collaborate and share on behalf of students’ well-being. Schools want to and regularly do engage with parents while respecting students’ constitutional right to privacy and maintaining their safety. If we lived in a world where all people were safe and respected for being their authentic selves, there would be no concerns with this bill. We don’t live in that world! Instead, the reality is that this harmful bill would endanger all vulnerable youth, especially LGBTQ. It will cause forced outing of students who are not yet ready to share with parents while putting teachers in the untenable position of risking harm to students and losing their license for a perceived infraction of an unclear law. Schools need to be safe places for all children to learn and develop healthy autonomy. Teens explore their identity in many ways, whether it be their religious beliefs and practices, political views, sexuality, education or career choices. Concerns of abuse, including emotional abuse, and neglect relate to a wide variety of scenarios. Students learn best when they feel safe and comfortable. When students have the opportunity to talk with a trusted adult, and to sort out how to approach parents, there is less risk of emotional harm, less bullying, less substance abuse, less depression, less dropouts, less suicides. Why would we compromise all that benefit? Making schools a space where teens and young adults are forced to look over their shoulders will create seriously adverse outcomes for students. The committee heard extensive testimony opposing this bill. The NH Department of Education said the “complete and honest” standard is unclear, subjective, and would be difficult to enforce. How does a teacher determine there is risk of imminent harm? The language of the bill does not mandate that a teacher be told something directly from the student – so they would be responsible for reporting hearsay or drawing conclusions from casual observations. How does a teacher keep track of all the conversations and still find the opportunity to actually teach? Teachers are already mandatory reporters. The bill says a teacher can report to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) instead of telling parents if there is fear of harm – but DHHS cannot and will not act in response to potential abuse. The Office of the Child Advocate stated that the bill “threatens the health, safety and intrinsic rights of Granite State LGBTQ+ residents, their families and our communities at large.” A letter from NH Businesses for Social Responsibility signed by 175 NH businesses opposes this bill because it creates an unwelcome environment for businesses to work in NH, makes employee recruitment harder and tarnishes our state’s reputation for treating each other with respect. New Futures, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Seacoast Outright, many mental health clinicians, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) all oppose this unnecessary legislation. We must prioritize fairness and freedom for all Granite Staters and find this bill Inexpedient to Legislate. - Rep. Hope Damon (D-Croydon)
Action alert shared courtesy of the
Hillsborough County NH Democratic Committee, 2024
HOUSE ADVOCACY TOOLS:
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