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Andrew Cline has been editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader since October of 2001. His writing has appeared in more than 100 newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Review.GOP's missed chance: No choice for NH parents
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Tuesday, May. 30, 2006
REPUBLICANS in the state House of Representatives might have missed their best chance to implement one of their platform planks.
Last week legislators approved a bill to bypass local boards of education when funding charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that operate under business charters and not under control of local school districts. They provide a needed alternative to traditional public schools. The bill legislators passed makes charter schools directly state funded and provides them with startup capital. It is a significant step toward more serious education reform in New Hampshire.
Yet House Republicans killed the best and most far-reaching reform — even though their party platform explicitly endorses it.
The Senate passed a bill to create a non-profit foundation that would award educational scholarships to students whose family income is less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level. The scholarships would be partly funded by state business tax credits.
The state GOP platform states: "Laws should be implemented to encourage school choice and competition and allow all parents to choose the best public, private, charter or home school program for their children.
"School vouchers or tuition tax credits should be made available to assist in school choice."
And yet House Republicans were the ones who killed the scholarship bill — the same week 15 more New Hampshire schools were designated "In Need of Improvement" under No Child Left Behind.
Democrats are openly hostile to letting parents choose their children's schools. They believe that parents cannot be trusted with those decisions. If Democrats make the kind of gains they expect this fall, parental choice will be dealt a serious setback. House Republicans might have trapped struggling students in their old-model public schools for years to come. So much for the idea of giving power back to the people.