Yesterday, CSF families and staff were honored to join Governor Chris Sununu and New Hampshire lawmakers as the governor signed into a law an expansion of the Education Freedom Account (EFA) Program. Under the new law, families earning up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level (up from 300 percent) can participate in the program, making education freedom a reality for even more Granite State children!
Following the event, Governor Sununu issued a press release saying, “New Hampshire funds students – not systems. Our Education Freedom Accounts legislation has been a tremendous success, and we are committed to further expanding eligibility for students who need it most. New Hampshire will always prioritize the success of our kids, especially those without the financial resources necessary to attend a school that fits their path.”
CSF New Hampshire Executive Director Kate Baker Demers made the following remarks at the ceremony:
In NH, we trust parents.
For so many of us, the pandemic opened our eyes.
For better or for worse, we had our kids at home, learning (or in some cases not) right in front of our very eyes, and many every day.
Whether or not they were learning…we, parents, were absolutely learning.
We learned some of our kids love remote learning; for others, not so much. We learned small groups of kids could work, and for some kids it works better. We learned that you can learn everywhere, both in and out of buildings. We learned that when our kids were home they didn’t experience bullying. They played outside again. We learned they absolutely need social connections and their friends.
We, parents of New Hampshire, are not the same parents we were pre-pandemic. We know now. Our kids are unique. We saw their individual abilities and rates of progress. We struggled to find an open school so we could work. We now know what works and what doesn’t work educationally for our children and we are ready to take action with that knowledge!
Thank you, New Hampshire, for trusting parents.
We will find and choose the right educational environments for our children to thrive and today, by increasing the income limits for access to the Education Freedom Account, you have removed a barrier and empowered more of us to do so.
The single parents that carry all the weight of a household alone on their shoulders, and were previously excluded for earning one cent over $60,000, thank you.
Every time you expand the Education Freedom Account program, you improve another child’s life and that child’s future.
You enable them to attend a micro-school, a specialized learning center, an online school, another district’s public school (that has a program they couldn’t get in their own), a private school with small class sizes, or maybe they attend all four choosing classes and courses in each that are exactly what they need to thrive.
The pandemic was a disaster in education for children, but now we, New Hampshire parents, are in charge, and with the Education Freedom Accounts, we have disaster-proofed our children’s education with flexible learning approaches, attention to well-being, and access to resources.
We are all here today to say thank you for trusting parents and increasing access to Education Freedom Accounts so more of our children get the education and learning experiences they absolutely need to thrive.