MANCHESTER, NH —The controversial “Education Freedom Savings Account” bill, SB 193, passed yesterday on a House vote of 184-162. The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee for a public hearing and vote. The Finance Committee deals only with the financial impact on the state, not on the school districts.
Intended to expand educational choices available to parents and students, it creates an Education Savings Account (ESA) program which enables the transfer of public funds from public schools to parents, who can spend it on private schools or services related to homeschooling.
The bill has raised concerns including among detractors including:
- The financial impact on school districts
- The lack of evidence for improvement
- Removal of protection for students with disabilities
- Potential encouragement of discrimination
- Violation of the separation of church and state
- Detraction from attention needed to improve public education
- Outsourced financial management
Stabilization grant not funded to offset city’s financial loss
An analysis of SB 193 published in December by Reaching Higher NH, a nonpartisan policy group, predicts that, “Manchester will lose about $430,000 in state aid if just 1 percent of eligible students select a voucher.”
The city would lose between $3,636 and $8121 for each student who opts for an ESA. Most Manchester students would qualify, but it is not possible to predict how many would apply. The money for each child’s ESA is diverted from the state’s “adequacy grant” to the public school district where the student lives.
There is no allocation of funds for a stabilization grant to cover the city’s losses.
How Manchester reps voted
Manchester representatives who voted for SB 193 included:
- Lisa M. Freeman (R)
- Larry G. Gagne (R)
- Jean L. Jeudy (D)
- Jesse Martineau (D)
- Mark McLean (R)
- Mark L. Proulx (R)
- Barbara E. Shaw (D)
- Kathleen F. Souza (R)
- Victoria L. Sullivan (R)
Manchester representatives who voted against SB 193 included:
- Robert A. Backus (D)
- Benjamin C. Baroody (D)
- Jane Beaulieu (D)
- Amanda Bouldin (D)
- Erika Connors (D)
- Patricia Cornell (D)
- Joel Elber (D)
- Mary Freitas (D)
- Jeffrey P. Goley (D)
- Mary Heath (D)
- Christopher J. Herbert (D)
- Patrick T. Long (D)
- Mark S. MacKenzie (D)
- Richard O’Leary (D)
- William J. O’Neil (D)
- Timothy J. Smith (D)
- Daniel J. Sullivan (D)
- Connie Van Houten (D)
Manchester representatives who did not vote included:
- Linda A. DiSilvestro (D) – Excused
- Elizabeth Edwards (D) – Not Voting
- Armand D. Forest (D) – Not Voting
- Robert Walsh, (D) Excused
You can read the full roll-call vote here.
Editor’s note: 3 p.m. The story has been updated to reflect the complete Manchester delegation votes. We strive for accuracy and apologize for the error.