School choice advocates see ally in GOP Gov. Sununu

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Advocates of school choice see an ally in Gov. Chris Sununu, New Hampshire’s first Republican governor in a dozen years.

Sununu has opined on the need for parents to have more choice, nominated a businessman who homeschooled his kids to lead the education department, and supports legislation that would allow some towns to use taxpayer dollars for private school tuition. He’s still short on specifics of how exactly he’ll expand school choice, but his budget presentation next week could provide more clues.

“It’s going to be a little bit of everything, I think,” Sununu said Wednesday when asked for details on how he’ll support school choice. “When you’re looking at school choice, it isn’t just choice away from public schools; a lot of times it’s choices within the public schools.”

A series of Republican-backed bills related to education are poised to come to his desk this year. And he’s nominated Frank Edelblut, a proponent of “personalized learning,” to be the next education commissioner. Democrats, teachers and other groups are pushing back against the choice movement, arguing it will hurt public schools by taking money away from them.

The debate over school choice has been playing out on the national stage, with President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary facing a tough battle. Betsy DeVos, a billionaire Republican donor, has faced fierce criticism from labor unions for her promotion of school choice. Democrats and teachers’ organizations have accused her of seeking to dismantle public education and divert funds to charter schools and have criticized her support for taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.

DeVos cleared a hurdle on Friday when senators voted 52-48 to cut off debate over her confirmation and set the stage for a final vote this week.

Sununu has “been in the trenches,” on issues of education choice, said Kate Baker, executive director of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which takes tax-deductible donations from businesses to provide private school scholarships for low-income families. Waterville Valley, the ski resort Sununu used to run, has donated to the program, Sununu said recently.

At the Legislature, the most notable school choice bill proposes to allow school districts that don’t teach certain grade levels to send students to private schools using taxpayer dollars, a move Sununu and Edelblut support. That would affect a handful of small towns in New Hampshire that do not operate middle or high schools and instead send their children to schools in neighboring towns. Among them is the town of Croydon, which only operates an elementary school. Croydon got in a court battle with the state in 2015 after using public dollars to send some students to a Montessori school.

“Are we here for the industry of education, or are we here for the student?” Republican Rep. Rick Ladd, the bill’s prime sponsor, said. “Parents are wanting to make the best choice for their students.”

Republicans are also pushing back on the idea that expanding school choice will diminish public schools, arguing that increasing choice and competition is likely to improve all options.

“We need to move beyond the idea that choice is a zero-sum game,” Edelbut said during his public hearing.

Democratic Rep. Mary Heath, a former educator, said the debate over education choice represents a “philosophical struggle” between the two parties that Democrats, now in the minority, are likely to lose. She supports public charter schools, of which New Hampshire has more than 20, but worries that too much of a focus on choice could siphon resources from public schools.

“I still have to stand up and say public schools are the equalizer,” she said. “We still have that state responsibility, shared with our local communities, to make sure all kids are getting a good education. And at public schools, we take all kids.”