As a New Hampshire voter, I believe that local school boards, with input from parents, teachers, and community members should be the body which determines appropriate reading material for school children in each individual school district. As a retired public school teacher, I sincerely hope that Governor Ayotte will oppose education House Bill # 324, which will soon be coming to her office for approval and which will give state government officials ultimate control of reading materials rather than local school officials.

HB 324, the bill recently passed on a partisan basis, states that any one parent would be allowed to file a legal complaint demanding that certain books be removed from a school. The bill also indicates that if the books are not removed, school boards and educators can be taken to court.

Is this aggressive tactic the method we really want to use to solve disagreements between School Boards and parents regarding reading materials for children? I think we can find a better way. If you agree, please contact Gov. Ayotte and ask her to oppose HB 324.

Contact Governor Ayotte: Office of the Governor State House 107 North Main Street Concord, NH 03301 (603) 271-2121 (603) 271-7680 (fax) GovernorAyotte@governor.nh.gov