NH Education – The 74

4 Ways New Hampshire’s Schools Tie to America’s Education Debate #EDlection2016

The 74 and Bellwether Education Partners — Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0000

EDlection 2016 is The Seventy Four’s ongoing coverage of state-level education news, debates and votes in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. The New Hampshire primary is currently scheduled for early February.

Some of America’s top policymakers will come together in Manchester, New Hampshire Wednesday to share their ideas on all things education as the 2016 presidential election season builds. Ahead of the big event, The Seventy Four delved into some of the critical issues facing New Hampshire students: How far school choice extends, innovative ways to avoid the over-testing trap and the showdown between New Hampshire’s governor and state lawmakers over the standards.

And, just for fun, we put together a profile of Londonderry High School, whose staff has been kind enough to open their doors for the summit.

Be sure to tune into The74Million.org on Wednesday for live NH Education Summit coverage, featuring conversations with Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich and Scott Walker.

The Politics: “Inside New Hampshire’s Common Core Showdown: Will Gov. Hassan’s Veto Embolden the Critics?”

The Seventy Four’s Matt Barnum highlights the debate in New Hampshire over the Common Core State Standards. A few months ago, New Hampshire lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting state education officials from requiring that any school district in New Hampshire mandate the use of Common Core.

But Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, a staunch Common Core supporter, vetoed the legislation. Read the full article here.

Die-hard opponents are maintaining a steady drumbeat, regularly posting content to a Stop Common Core New Hampshire Facebook ; an online to dump the standards has soared beyond 1,500 signatures as of Friday.

Going into the 2016 presidential election where Common Core bashing has taken on its own fervor among many of the GOP candidates, the question now for New Hampshire is just how long this activist energy can persist, given a governor who seems unshakeable.

The Options: “Tiny New Hampshire District Caught in Crosshairs of School Choice Debate.

The Seventy Four’s Carolyn Phenicie reports on how a tiny school district’s attempt to offer its students school choice could be illegal. For years, older kids in Croydon have attended school in a neighboring town. Last year, however, Croydon School District leaders told the town’s residents they could use local tax money that covers tuition in the neighboring district at the school of their choice. Read the full article here.

In a February letter, New Hampshire Education Commissioner Virginia Barry wrote to the Croydon superintendent that the practice of sending kids to private schools with taxpayer funds is “contrary to law.”

New Hampshire guarantees “that all public school children receive an adequate education,” Barry wrote. The state ensures this right through oversight visits from the state education department and annual assessments, neither of which private schools must participate in.

The metrics: “Inside New Hampshire’s Innovative Push to Change the Way We Test Students”

For The Seventy Four, reporter Mark Keierleber wrote about how a pilot program that allowed some New Hampshire students to skip the standardized Smarter Balanced exams this spring could revolutionize exams used to hold schools accountable for student learning and teacher effectiveness. Instead of bubble tests, the students took locally developed tests that relied on competencies rather than standardized skills. Read the full story here.

Valerie McKenney, the superintendent of the Epping School District, one of the four pilot districts, is optimistic. Because the test results appeared on students’ report cards, McKenney said they provided meaningful feedback to students, parents and educators.

With traditional standardized tests, students know their scores won’t “impact their life in a real way,” said McKenney. Under the pilot program, test scores are “a real grade on a real assignment, but it also gets used in a set of data to see how the school and district is meeting the standards.”

The School: “The Londonderry Lancers: Inside the School Holding the 2015 NH Education Summit”

The Seventy Four’s Lizzie Thompson took readers inside the classrooms at Londonderry High School, the NH Education Summit’s host school. Along with a top-notch marching band, Londonderry students’ test scores aren’t too shabby, either. Read the full article here.

Londonderry High School, nestled between Manchester and Boston, sits on a 135-acre campus in the center of town. The school has roughly 1,660 students and 125 teachers. About 34 percent of Londonderry high schoolers participate in AP classes, and 72 percent of them pass those college-level exams. This coming school year, Londonderry 11th-graders will take the SAT or the ACT to meet federal testing requirements. The school from having to take the Common Core assessment. Posting on GreatSchools.org, this Londonderry grad summed up his experience: “I graduated in 2012 and could not be happier with how this school prepared me. Many great extra-curricular activities! My newspaper experience helped me get a full time job right after high school that helps me pay for my Bachelor’s degree, and I was able to do an internship my senior year with help from guidance. The teachers are caring, there are excellent facilities, and the band is one of the best in the nation…”

The Londonderry Lancers: Inside the School Holding the 2015 NH Education Summit

Lizzie Thompson — Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0000

This is one in a series of articles profiling New Hampshire’s education system ahead of the August 19 NH Education Summit, hosted by The Seventy Four and sponsored by the American Federation for Children. Read the complete series here, and be sure to visit The74Million.org on Aug. 19 for live Summit coverage, featuring conversations with Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich and Scott Walker. More info:

There are 190 high schools in New Hampshire but only one could be chosen to host the 2015 Education Summit. Here are some highlights about Londonderry High School, The Seventy Four’s home away from home for #EDsummit15.

By the numbers: Londonderry High School, nestled between Manchester and Boston, sits on a 135-acre campus in the center of town. The school has roughly 1,660 students and 125 teachers. About 34 percent of Londonderry high schoolers participate in AP classes, and 72 percent of them pass those college-level exams. This coming school year, Londonderry 11th-graders will take the SAT or the ACT to meet federal testing requirements. The school from having to take the Common Core assessment. Posting on GreatSchools.org, this Londonderry grad summed up his experience: “I graduated in 2012 and could not be happier with how this school prepared me. Many great extra-curricular activities! My newspaper experience helped me get a full time job right after high school that helps me pay for my Bachelor's degree, and I was able to do an internship my senior year with help from guidance. The teachers are caring, there are excellent facilities, and the band is one of the best in the nation…”
Speaking of the band: The Londonderry Lancer Marching Band is the 2nd largest in New England with 280 members. The band and color guard have a storied history, having performed in the pre-game festivities at the when they marched on the . They also high-stepped up Pennsylvania Avenue in two presidential inauguration parades (2009 and 2013) and made four appearances at the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. Slightly closer to home, they are regulars at New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The glory of the Lancer Marching Band is part of a larger student body that embraces every opportunity, Principal Jason Parent told The Seventy Four, “What impresses me most about our students is that they are true consumers of their education. They not only thrive in an academic environment that challenges them at the highest level, but they are active participants in music, athletics, and extracurricular programs which provide additional opportunities to excel.” If you want to check out the fun on the first day of Band Camp, Aug. 10, go to the page.
Londonderry tops lists in education rankings: The School District is ranked in the top 9 percent of the Best School Districts in the country, and is 7th in the state of New Hampshire for student outcomes, according to the ranking organization k12.niche.org. Niche gives Londonderry High School an A for teachers, extracurricular activities, sports and resources and facilities. The Londonderry High School placed first in the New Hampshire State Mathematics Competition in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2010-11.
Students are staying in school and graduating in droves: Londonderry High School boasts a dropout rate of less than ½ a percentage point, while the average rate in New Hampshire 1.26 percent. And they are . Londonderry High School has a 95 percent graduation rate, compared to 88 percent statewide, and its students have a 91 percent college acceptance rate.
The Londonderry High School mascot is a Lancer (think medieval jousting) and they’re used to being dubbed champions.

The baseball team won its 5th state championship in 2014, while the tennis team earned that title in 2010 and 2012. The girls basketball team won the state title this year, despite having lost its whose Londonderry and Nashua teams were state champs a combined 12 times.

A world record AND coolest H.S. tradition in the country: Londonderry High School got a national shout-out from in 2014 for donating so much hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which makes wigs for women and girls fighting cancer, that its annual drive captured a Guinness World Record. Officially awesome.
Good deeds abound: Londonderry High School began its Pay It Forward campaign about five years ago when a group of students and advisor Katie Sullivan were brainstorming ways “to give back to the community that has supported LHS over the years,” according toThe recipients of the more than $500 the group raised at its annual car wash last fall were Gracie’s Gang at the Autism Awareness Walk, the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk and ALS in honor of Gene Connolly, the beloved principal of neighboring Concord High School who was diagnosed with the devastating disease a year ago and has by continuing to lead the high school.
“Giving Wings to Children’s Dreams:” Is the name of school administrator about transforming schools. It’s also the motto of the Londonderry schools. Superintendent Nathan Greenberg, describes it this way, a “learning environment that integrates high expectations with a climate that models fairness and respect and is supported, implemented, and embraced by our students … Perseverance and student ownership of learning enable our students to be true examples of our motto.”

Tiny New Hampshire District Caught in Crosshairs of School Choice Debate

Carolyn Phenicie — Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0000

The school in Croydon, New Hampshire, is small. Really small. Fewer than 100 students small.

Kids in public schools in Croydon (population 764) attend class in what amounts to a one-room school house at Croydon Village School from kindergarten through fourth grade.

For many years, Croydon, like other small districts in New Hampshire, had an exclusive agreement with a neighboring district to educate its older kids. But last year district leaders, with the backing of the town’s residents, gave students and their families an option: Take the local tax money that covers tuition in the neighboring district and use it instead at the school of their choice, a choice the state has said is illegal.

“The option is important, because one size does not fit all,” said Jody Underwood, president of the Croydon school board.

New Hampshire does have a very small private school choice program for students below a certain income threshold, funded by businesses that then receive tax credits. Only 40 students used the program in the 2013-14 year, and received scholarships of about $1,300 for private schools or homeschool expenses, .

About 20 other states have voucher or education savings accounts, and all but one are limited in some way, usually to children in failing schools or those from low-income families. Only Nevada, which recently made a splash when legislators created a statewide education savings account, has a program similar to Croydon’s in which all public school students, regardless of family income, are eligible.

Most Croydon kids still attend neighboring Newport Middle and High School. But last year, when the district began offering the option, five students used the program: One to attend another public school, one to a prep school and three to a Montessori school, the .

The student at the prep school graduated, but some new families have expressed interest for the upcoming school year, Underwood said. In all, fewer than 10 students are likely to take advantage of the program this year. There are about 60 Croydon children in 5th through 12th grades, according to the Union Leader.

The arrangement under which Croydon operates, called a school administrative unit, is common in New Hampshire, where each city, town or village has its own district, even if it doesn’t have enough students to merit its own schools. Most agreements only involve secondary students, but some communities export all their children.

Neighboring Vermont, too, allows districts without their own schools to pay tuition to neighboring districts. There, though, state law allows parents to choose private (but not religious) schools.

In New Hampshire, the state Department of Education became aware of Croydon’s unique program this winter and tried to shut it down, saying it violated several state laws and regulations.

“By sending public school pupils to private institutions which are not accountable to the state under the statewide adequate education program, the district’s action threatens to undermine the public school accountability system in New Hampshire,” Barry wrote. “As a result, you may not send your public school students to a private school.”

She cited state laws pertaining to parents’ duty to send their children to school and existing laws governing when a child may attend a public school outside his home district in cases of “educational hardship.”

In another Union-Leader , Underwood cited a different state law that allows districts to contract with “an academy, high school or other literary institution” located in New Hampshire or, when necessary, another state.

Talking to The Seventy Four, Underwood poked holes in the state’s stand on a guaranteed adequate, equitable education for every New Hampshire child. “A lot of kids fall through the cracks in public schools…in that sense they’re not providing an equitable education for everybody,” she said.

Croydon isn’t the only community interested in the private school option, Underwood said.

“At least two other school districts have called me asking about what we did and how we did it,” she said. Neither chose to go forward, “basically because the state told them they couldn’t.”

An attorney for the state education department said the department’s position on the use of public funds for private schools “has been clear to the community” and that districts may form agreements or use tuition contracts to send students to other public schools “to guarantee that their students are receiving an adequate education.”

Despite a volley of letters and a phone conversation between Barry and Croydon officials, including Underwood, there has been no resolution; the state and Croydon currently are at an impasse. The district is undeterred.

“Croydon is going to go forward paying private school tuition using our town’s tax dollars. We have the support of our town,” Underwood said.

Inside New Hampshire’s Common Core Showdown: Will Gov. Hassan’s Veto Embolden the Critics?

Matt Barnum — Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Anne Marie Banfield promises to be quick — after all, she says to a couple dozen parents in what looks to be a school cafeteria, the Bruins game is on. She is about the Common Core, and for many parents gathered that night in Barrington, New Hampshire, what Banfield had to say was more important than the Bruins game.

As it turns out, Banfield isn’t all that quick, talking for an hour straight and then taking another 45 minutes worth of questions. A 104-minute video of the event was uploaded to in June 2013, where it continues to slowly rack up views.

Banfield’s initial New Hampshire monologue is engaging if somewhat stream-of-consciousness. She first explains that Common Core is — like ObamaCare, she says — difficult to define.

She then proceeds to lay out a litany of complaints about the standards-that-aren’t-just-standards: Common Core is too much like the European system; the standards are too easy; English textbooks are too political and attempt to indoctrinate students with stories about Cesar Chavez; there’s not enough grammar; it requires data collection; too much time is spent explaining math and not enough time focusing on getting the answers right. It may even require the reading of books, Banfield theorizes, that are both anti-Christian and Marxist, citing Barbara Ehrenreich’s “.”

Most ominous is the elaborate tracking system that Banfield claims the federal government is instituting through Common Core. The feds, she explains in a no-nonsense manner, will use all the data that is allegedly being collected to funnel students into certain careers — whether they like it or not.

She describes one such harrowing incident: “I heard from a parent in Nashua, whose, I think it was her son, took one of these surveys in high school. Her son’s gonna be a rapper! She was not happy about that.” The audience laughs, perhaps a bit nervously, wondering which of their children would be required by Common Core to become rappers.

There are real arguments against the Common Core and Banfield — who says she volunteers with , a socially conservative group in New Hampshire — raises some of them in her talk.

But it’s hard to imagine that what’s galvanized the widespread uprising against the Common Core in New Hampshire and elsewhere, are concerns about marginal increases in informational (non-fiction) texts. Rather it’s likely the nefarious enterprise that Banfield describes, complete with left-wing indoctrination and government-controlled careers, is causing the rebellion.

It’s been two years since Banfield’s presentation, and she’s continued to write widely about the standards, in mainstream outlets and conservative blogs.

It is precisely this sort of grassroots activism — writing anywhere and everywhere, leveraging social media, speaking in middle school cafeterias — that is making a mark. In New Hampshire, it’s even fueled anti-Common Core legislation.

A few months ago, the New Hampshire state Senate and House passed a bill that would prohibit either the state Education Department or the state Board of Education from requiring that any school district in New Hampshire be required to use the Common Core. The law sailed through the House by a vote of 202–138.

Kevin Avard, the chief sponsor of the bill, , “I’ve heard from many parents around the state who are worried not only about the quality of these federal educational programs but that they are mandated across the state, limiting the ability for individual towns and cities to decide on their students’ education.”

No doubt some of those parents were inspired to contact Avard by activists like Banfield.

To their disappointment, however, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan took a hard stand on Common Core and Avard’s bill in early May. She noted that New Hampshire districts were already free to choose whether to implement the standards and expressed her support for their value.

“As this bill has no practical impact, its purpose appears to be that of sending a message, and it is the wrong message,” Hassan said “New Hampshire must be clear that it is committed to developing a 21st century workforce and citizenry, that it welcomes innovation, and that it is modernizing its education system to reflect those values.”

Hassan is a staunch Common Core backer who recently the board of Achieve, a nonprofit that helped write the standards. When she ran for — and won — re-election in 2014, Hassan the standards against criticism from her Republican opponent, who campaigned vigorously on his opposition to the Common Core.

Hassan may have won the battle — the state’s Business and Industry Council shares her support for the more rigorous standards and state lawmakers have not been able to override her veto — but the war is far from over in New Hampshire.

Or perhaps, the question is how long Common Core supporters, like Hassan herself, can continue to contain the backlash.

Photo by Getty Images