NH Education Bills — Full Analysis

Bans teaching of CRT, LGBTQ+ topics, "Marxist analyses" — with $10K lawsuits and loss of teaching licenses.

TL;DR: Named after Charlie Kirk. Lets any parent sue a school for up to $10,000 and get a teacher's license revoked for teaching about systemic racism, LGBTQ+ identities, or anything deemed "identity-based ideology." The vagueness is the point — it's designed to make teachers afraid. Even the NH Attorney General's office opposes it, saying it's unconstitutionally vague. Passed the House 184–164 and is now in the Senate. This is the #1 bill to fight.

Commission to study converting ALL public schools to charter schools. Also lowers charter conversion threshold from 2/3 to simple majority.

TL;DR: Sponsored by House Majority Leader Osborne, who openly says it would make public education funding debates "go away." That's because it would eliminate traditional public schools entirely. The bill also sneaks in a change from 2/3 majority to simple majority for converting to charter, AND moves the vote from town meeting to the general election — where it's easier to pass with less community scrutiny. This is the free-state endgame: dismantle public education from the ground up.

Declares education funding is a "shared" state-local responsibility — overriding court rulings that the state must pay more.

TL;DR: Courts have repeatedly ruled that NH underfunds public education and the state bears that obligation (Claremont decisions, 1993/1997; ConVal ruling, 2023). This bill is the legislature's middle finger to those rulings — redefining the law to claim towns share the burden equally. Translation: property-poor towns stay screwed, and the state keeps ducking its constitutional obligation. Passed despite overwhelming opposition and is now in the Senate.

Redefines "cost of adequate education" to EXCLUDE school nurses and superintendent services.

TL;DR: A judge ruled the state underfunds education at ~$4,200/pupil — roughly half what it should be. Instead of increasing funding, this bill strips items from the list of what counts as "adequate." No school nurses in the state funding formula. No superintendent services. Also removes the requirement that the legislature review adequacy costs every 10 years. It's a backdoor way to keep funding low by redefining what schools need. Passed the House 10-8 on party lines and is now in the Senate.

Imposes mandatory biennial tax cap votes and caps school district budgets based on inflation/enrollment formulas.

TL;DR: Forces every school district to vote on a tax cap every two years. Caps budgets at the previous year's spending times average inflation over 5 years, or based on student enrollment changes. Sounds "reasonable" until you realize school costs (special education, insurance, heating oil) regularly outpace general inflation. This is designed to slowly strangle school budgets over time, making cuts inevitable. Also restricts central office administrative spending.

Massively expands school material restrictions — any parent complaint can restrict books, lessons, speakers, artwork, and displays.

TL;DR: SB 33 was the test run — SB 434 is the real thing. This bill radically expands the definition of restricted "materials" beyond books to include textbooks, classroom instruction, plays, artwork, displays, health curricula, visiting speakers, and any printed or visual content. Districts must create a formal complaint process where a single parent complaint can restrict material for ALL students. Terms like "harmful to minors," "age-inappropriate," and "otherwise offensive" are left deliberately undefined. This is an industrial-scale book-banning machine.

Lets EFA (voucher) students attend their public school district — but the district gets NO reimbursement.

TL;DR: Education Freedom Accounts already divert public money to private schools. This bill would let those same students come back and use public school resources without the district receiving any state funding for them. Schools would bear the cost of educating these students out of local property taxes alone. It's a one-two punch: take the state money away, then send the kid back and make the town pay anyway. The committee recommended it pass with an amendment — this one is moving.

Removes the income cap from Education Freedom Accounts — universal vouchers for wealthy families too.

TL;DR: When Education Freedom Accounts were created, supporters swore they were for low-income families who couldn't afford private school. That was always the plan's foot-in-the-door. SB 295 ripped that door off the hinges — removing the income cap entirely so now millionaires get taxpayer subsidies for private school tuition. A family earning $500,000/year can now take $5,000+ in public education money for their kid's prep school. This bill proves EFAs were never about helping poor kids — they're about defunding public schools.

Statewide open enrollment — any student can attend any public school district, with funding following the student.

TL;DR: Sounds like "school choice" but here's what it actually does: any student can enroll in any district, and 80% of the per-pupil cost follows them. Small rural districts lose students (and funding) to larger, better-resourced districts — but still have to maintain buildings, bus routes, and staff for the students who remain. It's a death spiral for rural schools. And the receiving districts control capacity, meaning wealthy districts can cherry-pick while poor districts hemorrhage. Passed the Senate 16-8.

Creates a "revolving loan fund" for struggling schools — but forces districts to open the door to universal vouchers.

TL;DR: Marketed as help for cash-strapped districts like Claremont, this bill lets struggling schools borrow up to 75% of their state education aid — but the catch is poisonous. Any district that takes the loan must allow ALL parents in the district to obtain Education Freedom Accounts regardless of income. It's predatory lending meets voucher expansion: here's money you desperately need, but the price is opening the door for your funding to be drained away permanently.

Repeals the $15 million child care grant program — eliminating workforce recruitment funding for child care workers.

TL;DR: NH already has a child care crisis — there aren't enough providers, and the ones that exist can't hire because the pay is so low. The legislature allocated $15 million for workforce recruitment and retention grants. This bill repeals that funding. At a time when the federal government cut off TANF funding for child care, the state's response is to also pull its own funding. Working parents across NH will pay the price, and the ripple effects hit schools when kids show up without adequate early childhood preparation.

Bans public schools from using any World Economic Forum teaching materials.

TL;DR: Pure conspiracy-theory legislation — and it's now law. The WEF isn't writing your kid's textbooks. This is red meat for the "Great Reset" crowd — banning materials from a specific organization that lives rent-free in certain people's heads. Practically meaningless but signals the legislature's priorities: performative culture war over actual education policy. Rep. Bryan Morse (R-Merrimack) spent taxpayer time and legislative resources on this while real education funding bills died. The fact that this became law while school building aid (HB 366) got killed tells you everything.

Restricts school flags to US, state, POW/MIA, military, and town flags only. Fines up to $1,000 for violations.

TL;DR: This is a Pride flag ban dressed up as patriotism — and it's now law. Sponsored by Rep. Lisa Freeman (R-Tilton), schools can't display any flag outside the approved list — no Pride flags, no cultural heritage flags, nothing. Violations escalate from warnings to Board of Education fines of $1,000. The message to LGBTQ+ students: you're not welcome here. Takes effect September 2026. They passed this while killing funding for crumbling school buildings.

Prohibits public schools from performing surgical procedures or prescribing pharmaceutical drugs.

TL;DR: Schools don't perform surgery. Schools don't prescribe drugs. This is a solution in search of a problem — almost certainly targeting trans-related healthcare fears, school-based health clinics, or school nurses administering medications. Sponsored by Rep. Kristin Noble (R-Bedford), it passed 183–155, which tells you it's about politics, not policy. If it were actually about something real, it would've been unanimous. Now in the Senate.

Forces public colleges to allow firearms and weapons on campus. Eliminates all campus carry restrictions.

TL;DR: Strips UNH, Plymouth State, Keene State, and all public colleges of the ability to set their own firearms policies. Sponsored by Rep. Sam Farrington (R-Rochester) and called the "Protecting College Students Act" — Orwellian naming at its finest. University presidents opposed it. No permit required. Parents, students, and faculty had no say. This is now law. It makes campuses less safe and overrides local institutional control, which is ironic from the "local control" crowd.

Eliminates nearly all homeschool oversight — no notification, no evaluations, no portfolio requirements.

TL;DR: Eliminates the requirement for homeschool families to notify their school district, removes annual academic evaluation requirements, and scraps portfolio maintenance and completion letter submissions to the Department of Education. The state would have zero visibility into whether homeschooled children are actually being educated. While most homeschool families are dedicated educators, removing all oversight creates a black hole where educational neglect — and worse — can go undetected.

Establishes sweeping parental notification requirements and material review rights in public schools.

TL;DR: Sounds reasonable on paper — parents should know what their kids are learning. But the devil is in the details. HB 10 creates extensive notification and opt-out requirements that burden teachers and administrators with paperwork, and provides the legal scaffolding for parents to challenge any curriculum content they dislike. It's the "parental rights" framework that bills like SB 434 and HB 1792 plug into. Now law.

Directs state to defund "low-earning degree programs" at public universities.

TL;DR: Requires the University System of NH to ensure "no state funds support low-earning degree programs." Who defines "low-earning"? The bill doesn't say clearly, but the implication is obvious: programs in education, social work, the arts, humanities, and other fields that don't maximize starting salaries. In a state with a desperate teacher shortage, the legislature wants to defund the programs that produce teachers. You can't make this up.

Changes how SAU budgets appear on warrants and restricts amendments.

TL;DR: Moves the SAU budget warrant article to the front of the warrant (right after bonds), locks in the previous year's adjusted budget as the baseline, and prohibits any amendments before the vote. The "no amendments" provision is the concerning part — it limits democratic deliberation at school meetings. Communities can't adjust the budget on the floor; it's take-it-or-leave-it. Reduces voter agency.

Repeals the NH Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

TL;DR: Eliminates the state council that coordinates healthcare, education, and services for people with autism — a body created by the legislature in 2008. While this isn't directly an "education" bill, the council's work includes educational support and policy recommendations for students on the spectrum. Removing it strips away an advocacy body for some of the most vulnerable students. Passed 178–155.

Enables Derry to absorb the Derry Cooperative School District as a town department.

TL;DR: Allows the Town of Derry (which has a tax cap) to incorporate the Derry Cooperative School District (which doesn't have one) as a town department. The concern is that this would subject the school district to Derry's municipal tax cap, effectively capping school spending. Impact on Hooksett students attending Pinkerton is unclear. This is a local bill but fits the broader pattern of using tax caps to constrain school budgets.