SB 101 Dead In House, But Open Enrollment Lives On

By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH

The bill to allow parents to send their children to any public school they want, SB101, got tabled Thursday in the House with a 320 to 32 vote, effectively killing that bill.

Rep. Peggy Balboni, D-Rye Beach, told InDepthNH.org that SB101 contained too many gaps and unanswered questions. Balboni and other Democrats are not opposed to creating more educational choices for families, but SB101 was not the answer, she said.

The bill would have created significant funding and administrative problems for special education students, left families on their own to figure out public school transportation, and created a system to reward large districts in wealthy communities while punishing the smaller, less wealthy districts.

“Becasue of all those unanswered questions, we need to have a choice that works for everyone,” Balboni said.

On top of those issues, many communities in New Hampshire have rejected open enrollment systems when proposed on town or school district meeting warrants this year. SB101 would have overridden those votes, snatching local control of the schools away from the people who fund them, she said.

Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, lauded lawmakers for killing off SB101.

“By tabling SB 101, the House of Representatives has taken an important step toward protecting equity in New Hampshire’s public education system. Rather than deepening disparities through a statewide open enrollment mandate, lawmakers have recognized the need to strengthen opportunity for every student,” Tuttle said in a statement.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, is disappointed by the vote to table his bill, but said the open enrollment fight isn’t over.

“I hoped the House would do what was best for children and their parents, and support open enrollment. This is a tremendously popular policy that allows parents to choose the best school for their children,” Lang said. “At a time when many schools have plenty of unused capacity, open enrollment is a terrific way for districts to avoid further property tax increases. A vote against open enrollment is a vote for higher property taxes.”

Balboni said many other states have some type of open enrollment system, but unlike New Hampshire, those states fund education more than local communities.

“Those states pay 70 to 80 percent of the costs,” she said.

Still waiting in Concord is HB751, another open enrollment measure tacked onto a healthcare study bill.

"I am happy we still have a vehicle in HB751 to move forward with this critical policy,” Lang said. “This isn't over.”

HB751 was drafted to create a committee to study the licensure of outpatient substance use disorder treatment facilities, and an open enrollment proposal was added as an amendment to that bill.

A Committee of Conference for HB751 has been set up for lawmakers to negotiate on the bill, but that committee has yet to meet.

Correction: A previous version of this story should have said Rep. Peggy Balboni, D-Rye Beach.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.