Looking at the multitude of bills proposed recently regarding public education in our state, I can only conclude that the Republican Party has abandoned the idea of public education.

As the parent of three grown sons who were educated in New Hampshire’s public schools, and the grandparent of a toddler in New Hampshire, I am deeply concerned that the superior education my children received will not be available for my grandson. Neither my husband nor I grew up in New Hampshire, and we were somewhat concerned that a small, largely rural state might not provide them the quality education that would allow them to go anywhere and do anything they desired. Instead, we were impressed that our local schools gave them access to superior colleges, and the small nature of New Hampshire gave them advantages the more cosmopolitan areas of our childhoods could not.

Education is an exercise in growth, and growth is often painful. Efforts to homogenize, dilute and restrict education will not be improvements. Vouchers and other privatization efforts diminish the community’s oversight and control of education and have been proven over time to benefit the more affluent members to the detriment of the less wealthy and the community as a whole.

These are attempts to divide the towns of New Hampshire into separate, private enclaves who neither care nor connect with each other. Seeing this as anything else seems naive and short sighted. Our founders knew the value of public education and put it in our state constitution.

Please appreciate the quality and value of the type of public education New Hampshire has been providing and do not join this attempt to turn New Hampshire into Louisianna or Mississippi.