Telegraph file photo Award-winning world fusion musician Randy Armstrong teaches students at MicroSociety Academy Charter School in Nashua last year. The academy is one of two charter schools in Nashua recognized by the New Hampshire Department of Education. Friday, New Hampshire Democrats rejected $46 million in federal funding to support charter schools.

CONCORD – In August, New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said the state would receive a $46 million federal grant to “increase, expand, or replicate” its number of charter schools, such as the Academy for Science and Design and the MicroSociety Academy Charter School in Nashua.

Friday, Edelblut could only react as majority Democrats on the New Hampshire Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee rejected the grant funding.

“I am disappointed that partisanship on the part of the Fiscal Committee continues to block this grant,” Edelblut said. “Families of means can make these choices any time they want. This grant was meant to give economically-disadvantaged students and at-risk students those same choices.”

Edelblut said students generally choose to attend public charter schools because they are either:

• Pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers; or

• Because they are fleeing schools at which they have struggled to succeed academically, or have been the victims of bullying.

“If you care about children and if you care about New Hampshire taxpayers, you would approve this grant,” a frustrated Edelblut added.

The original language of the grant announcement in August stated the $46 million would, “support efforts to increase, expand, or replicate the number of high-quality charter schools in New Hampshire, focusing on at-risk, educationally disadvantaged students.”

However, majority Democrats do not believe charter schools are worth the risk.

“I am sickened by today’s vote, and the Democrats must explain to every single student why they rejected an unprecedented $46 million grant for public schools,” Gov. Chris Sununu said on Friday. “For a party that claims to care about public education, their actions today make clear that they will always stand with special interests over the well-being of our students.”

Sununu said there are currently more than 1,300 New Hampshire students on waiting lists to get into public charter schools. According to state officials, the 28 existing New Hampshire public charter schools include are Academy for Science and Design in Nashua; MicroSociety Academy Charter School in Nashua; Gate City Charter School for the Arts in Merrimack; Capital City Public Charter School in Concord; Cocheco Academy of The Arts in Dover; Compass Classical Academy in Franklin; CSI Charter School in Penacook; Granite State Arts Academy in Salem; Great Bay Charter School in Exeter; Kreiva Academy Public Charter School in Manchester; LEAF Charter School in Alstead; Ledyard Charter School in Lebanon; Making Community Connections in Manchester; Making Community Connections – Monadnock in Keene; Mill Falls Charter School in Manchester; Mountain Village Charter School in Plymouth; Next Charter School in Derry; North Country Charter Academy in Littleton and Lancaster; PACE Career Academy in Allenstown; Polaris Charter School in Manchester; Robert Frost Charter School in Conway; Seacoast Charter School in Dover; Strong Foundations in Pembroke; Surry Village Charter School in Surry; The Birches Academy in Salem; The Founders Academy in Manchester; the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in Exeter; and Windham Academy Public Charter School in Windham.

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees also said she was “sickened” by the vote.

“It is clear from today’s vote that the Democratic members of the committee are beholden to the educational establishment and specifically the teachers’ unions, which lobbied committee members hard not to accept the funding in order to maintain the status quo in the state’s public schools,” Rees said on Friday.

“Our state currently has 3,932 students enrolled in charter schools,” state House Minority Leader Richard Hinch, R-Merrimack, said. “There are 1,000 students on waiting lists to enter charter schools, and some communities do not currently have access to charter schools. This federal grant would put New Hampshire on a pathway to open more charter schools to better serve students in those areas.”

The Opposition

After the vote, New Hampshire Rep. Mary Jane Wallner, D-Concord, said charter schools can be a drain on “traditional public schools.”

“New Hampshire charter schools are still working to recruit students and build their financial stability and our state as a whole is struggling to adequately fund public education-this is not the time to divert funds from those existing educational facilities,” she said.

State Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, said there is no “free lunch,” adding he believes taking the $46 million grant would have hurt Granite State public education.

“State law requires the Department of Education to seek every federal grant possible, but that doesn’t equate need or prudence. This federal grant would have cost the state of New Hampshire millions of dollars and jeopardized the future health and vitality of current traditional public schools and public charter schools,” D’Allesandro said.

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said that sometimes, charter schools just don’t work.

“More than 35% of charter schools funded by the federal Charter School Program between 2006 & 2014 either never opened or were shut down, costing taxpayers more than half a billion dollars”–including one in NH that cost taxpayers nearly $500k. #nhpolitics,” Buckley stated via Twitter on Friday.

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