Governor Hassan is on her way for being the most anti-parental rights Governor we’ve seen in New Hampshire for a long time.
Today Governor Hassan vetoed a parental rights Bill (HB603) which declared that a student exempted from taking the statewide assessment by the student’s parent or legal guardian shall not be penalized. The bill also requires a school district to provide an appropriate alternative educational activity for the time period during which the assessment is administered..
Parents in New Hampshire have already begun refusing to let their children take the seriously flawed Smarter Balanced Assessment. Let’s not forget that it was Governor Hassan’s inept Dept. of Education that signed on to the Smarter Balanced Assessment.
Many parents took time to address the New Hampshire House and Senate Education Committees in support of HB603. It was important that parents had a law they could point to when informing their local school district that their children would not be taking the assessment.
Once again, Governor Hassan ignored those parents and instead VETOED this important legislation.
What were her reasons?
According to her press release she said:
“House Bill 603 would create a student opt-out option from the statewide assessment process. This bill would conflict with current state educational accountability laws, undercut one of the tools that educators use to evaluate K-12 student progress, and jeopardize federal funding for New Hampshire schools.”
Governor Hassan seems to be using the excuse that the Federal Government MIGHT withhold federal funding for education if we acknowledge parental rights in state statute.
However if she did a little research she would find that this empty threat has been made over and over again.
Will schools lose federal funds if kids don’t take mandated tests? Fact vs threat.
You can boycott standardized tests without fear of federal penalties to your school
So does this mean that we have a Governor willing to sell your children to the Federal Government? Do we have a Governor who refuses to LEAD New Hampshire and would rather cower to these empty threats? Do we have a Governor who refuses to help the many parents who were frustrated by their school administrators who misled them into believing they did not have the right to refuse these tests?
What we are seeing from Governor Hassan is not only a lack of leadership but an unwillingness to stand up for the parents in New Hampshire.
Parents are URGED to write the New Hampshire Senators and Representatives and ask them to OVERRIDE Governor Hassan’s veto of HB603 and SUPPORT the parents in New Hampshire!!
