Oath of Office (Article 84 of the NH Constitution): “I … do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the United States of America and the state of New Hampshire, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.”

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New Hampshire is currently suffering from the faithlessness of scores of officials who falsely swore that oath. Last week’s column promised reasons and ways to return to Constitutional first principles and start healing our broken social contract, but it’s important to describe one more particularly heinous example of how Free Staters have broken their promise: their attack on our public schools. Article 83 of our 1784 Constitution states that “…knowledge and education are essential to the preservation of a free government” and requires that the state “cherish” public education, providing “adequate funding.” It also prohibits using public funds to support religious education and, in, Article 3, section 28-a, states that “the state shall not mandate or assign any new, expanded, or modified programs or responsibilities… in such a way as to necessitate additional local expenditures… unless such programs or responsibilities are fully funded by the state…”

Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs, aka vouchers) trample all over Article 83. They funnel tax dollars through the Children’s Scholarship Fund (funded with over $27 million in donations in 2020, but the public financial statement doesn’t say who those donors are). It administers the EFAs for a percentage of our tax dollars, based on a no-bid contract with the State Department of Education. This is how our taxes are laundered so they can be given to parents who want to send their children to private schools, including religious institutions. Requests for vouchers already far exceed the amount budgeted by the state, so now, in blatant opposition to Article 83, local and regional districts are required to pay for them. The party of law and order, small government, and fiscal responsibility has given upwards of 150 sitting legislators high marks for EFAs in the Liberty Alliance’s “liberty ratings,” even though they take away local control, fund religious education, and put cities and towns at risk of bankruptcy as they drain funds budgeted for public safety and public works.

But there’s more. House Freedom Caucus members sponsored HB 1679, which would dissolve all regional school districts. Students would be forced to travel long distances to schools in other districts. Special needs students and their families would be without the regional cooperatives that provide the “free and appropriate education” required by Federal and State law. HB 1679 would in fact impact every student in the state. If the Hollis/Brookline Cooperative District were forced to dissolve, for example, where would those students go? If they came to Nashua, how would we manage to provide for their education? How would our neighbors be represented on the school board? How would students with special needs be served in a district with already limited and dwindling funds?

The Free Staters have no answers to these questions, because they don’t care about public education or any other public institution. The goal remains, as Jason Sorens wrote, to “…take over the state government, then cut taxes, shrink budgets, scrap regulations and expand personal freedom.” In brief, the goal is to starve government to death or “drown it in a bathtub.” We all risk ending up like Grafton.

This isn’t the American dream; it’s anocracy, “…a regime type featuring inherent qualities of political instability and ineffectiveness, as well as an ‘incoherent mix of democratic and autocratic traits and practices.'” (www.infogalactic.com). Anocracy isn’t freedom. It’s a different type of tyranny–an every-man-for-himself, might-makes-right, only-the-strong-survive free-for-all. The 1%, the robber barons and oligarchs, are only too happy to help create such a world, because that leaves them free to live large and send in a hero/tyrant if anyone gets too far out of line. Very few people really want to live in that kind of environment. Even if the entire 20,000-strong troupe of Free Staters moves to NH, they’d make up just 1.3% of our population. Their toxic individualism and anti-constitutional goals don’t represent the majority by a long shot.

That’s exactly why there’s reason for hope. We don’t have to surrender self-governance to the few who have no respect for government. The other 98.7% of us can defeat this destructive agenda. Our Constitutions are as-yet-unfulfilled promises, but we can decide representative government is worth making “more perfect.” Then we must remember that government by the people means it’s on us to do the work. “Work” can mean anything from a change of mind or heart to a run for public office. Here is a far-from-comprehensive list of large and small citizen actions:

• Remember Article 83: “…knowledge and education are essential to the preservation of a free government….” Laws meant to intimidate teachers, defund public schools, and create more barriers to access are telling: their creators and sponsors know knowledge is power; they’ll do what they can to suppress it.

• Our NH State Constitution has two parts, the “Bill of Rights” and the “Form of Government.” Spend a few hours carefully reading it to understand the balance between rights and responsibilities that is the social contract.

• Take an online civics course.

• Read a few banned books–anything from Where the Wild Things Are to Huckleberry Finn to Hamlet. They’re a great window into what autocrats fear, and it’s fun.

• Watch or attend meetings of the Legislature. Register support or opposition to bills and send written testimony on the nh.gov website. HB 1697 is a good place to start.

• Attend or watch BOE and BOA meetings online.

• Contact local officials about important matters. Those who respond are the most likely to show respect for their office, as well.

• End political fandom and hero worship. Politicians and parties aren’t sports teams or celebrities. Even those we agree with are public servants, not the home team quarterback. Their job is to be thoughtful about their decisions, true to their word, responsive to their constituents, and loyal to our Constitution.

• Check out The Liberty Alliance’s “liberty ratings” of State Senators and Representatives online to find out how your representatives score. The higher their grades, the more likely that they have broken their oath of office. Those with an “A” or “B” grade are beholden to libertarian PACs, not our state. Voters should send them home in November.

• Be diligent about finding the truth and scrupulous in speaking it.

• Support conscientious candidates or run for office.

• Serve. Let’s stop being “proud to be an American” and instead be grateful. We inherited our rights, and gratitude dictates that we use them to build and create community, not divide and destroy.

The vast majority of us value the same things: stable, representative government; a fair tax system; and equal access to justice, education, financial security, health, a livable environment, and a peaceful future. Through government, we help to create these things for one another as members of communities of free people. Faithless officials have been undermining the will of the majority long enough. It’s time to take back our state.

Jean Lewandowski is a resident of Nashua.