Amid pending lawsuits, they seek a seat at the table over any changes in the system
By Susan Geier-Granite State News Collaborative
Amid lawsuits over how New Hampshire funds its public schools, the level of scrutiny into how those taxpayer dollars are used remains hotly debated among educators and policymakers.
And while proponents of so-called “school choice” say it’s good for families to have options beyond traditional public schools, those options aren’t held to the same standards.
Outside of traditional public schools, the state will spend $60 million on public charter schools and nearly $28 million for 5,321 school vouchers in the 2024-25 school year. The vouchers are used to pay for homeschooling, private or religious education expenses to qualifying families.
Advocates of charter schools emphasize that they are public schools monitored by the state and held to the same financial and academic standards as traditional schools, unlike non-public schools and homeschools in the Education Freedom Account program, which are not.
The EFA program is managed through a contracted third party, the Children’s Scholarship Fund, but much of the data on the program is not publicly available.
“There is no accountability at all” for the EFA program, said Jodi Adams, executive director of the N.H. Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Charter schools have the same type of paperwork as traditional public schools do. We have to follow the same rules.”
The state’s Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant, which is responsible for conducting a performance audit of the EFA, said during a recent meeting of the Joint Legislative Performance Audit and Oversight Committee that most documents pertaining to the EFA program are missing due to the “lack of access to primary program data and information.”
Since EFA’s inception in 2021, vouchers have accounted for more than $73 million from public education funding.
The state’s 32 charter schools serve 6,015 students at a cost of about $60 million this school year. They are funded directly by the state at approximately $9,000 per student ($4,100 in state adequacy aid plus a $4,900 additional grant). That is considerably less than the statewide average cost of $20,000 per traditional public school student, according to state data.
Charter schools also receive differentiated aid for certain individual factors, such as English language learners, free and reduced lunch, and students with special needs. They must fundraise to cover the rest of their costs — such as renting space at market rates, and buying materials and equipment.
While the primary focus of two pending school-funding lawsuits – Contoocook Valley School District et al. v. State of New Hampshire and Steven Rand et al. v. State of New Hampshire – is “traditional public-school funding … we want to make sure charter school advocates are at the table and involved,” says Jodi Adams, executive director of the N.H. Alliance for Public Charter Schools. (Courtesy photo)
“The primary focus of those (school funding) lawsuits are traditional public-school funding, but we want to make sure charter school advocates are at the table and involved,” said Adams, whose own child attended a charter school. “If there's anything that comes out of the lawsuit(s) that looks at redoing funding or making over how public schools are funded in the state, charter schools want to be part of the conversation. We don’t want to get lost in the shuffle.”
Becoming a charter school
A proposal for a new charter school must go through several steps once an application is filed, according to the N.H. Department of Education. There is a legal review of the application, a peer review, a commissioner review, then a state board review for approval.
Once in operation, charter schools undergo reviews and site visits in the first and third years, followed by a five- year charter renewal review and site visit. Additionally, charters pay for an external audit, submit an annual accountability report, and file an annual financial report — something all public schools must do, and which are available online.
Still, charter schools struggle with enrollment and financial issues, or worse. For example, Lionheart Classical Academy in Peterborough, which opened in 2022, is under scrutiny for its governance and financial practices. Eleven charter schools have closed since the first one opened in 2004. Most recently, LEAF Chartered Public School in Alstead filed for bankruptcy and shut its doors in April after seven years. Coastal Waters School in Exeter closed earlier this year in the face of alleged embezzlement and fraud after just two years of operation.
“There are some nefarious actors out there,” Adams said. “But our position is that N.H. DOE has safeguards in place so that these things are found out and people are monitored and audited.”
The N.H. Department of Education’s Bureau of Federal Compliance conducts an annual risk assessment of traditional and charter schools. It oversees activities of federal grant programs to determine whether organizations are following federal fiscal requirements.
According to the bureau, risk assessment is used to determine the likelihood that a school may fail to comply with applicable rules. A high-risk level doesn’t indicate failure to comply nor does a low-risk level indicate the school is compliant.
During the 2023-24 school year, the bureau found 19 high-risk traditional districts and five high-risk charter schools after conducting site monitoring visits. The bureau looks at a variety of things, including policies and procedures, cash management and use of money.
Adams was on the board of Making Community Connections, which had a school in Keene and one in Manchester. The Keene school was thriving, but Manchester’s was not.
“We had more at-risk students (in Manchester), and once COVID hit, we had a struggle to get these kids to continue,” Adams said. “We would try different ways to engage them, but it was hard for them to come back.”
Many students were unsheltered, worked full time, or had families with substance abuse issues. With a drop in enrollment, the school closed at the end of the 2021 school year.
‘Public funds to support private schools’
Meryl Levin, director of Mill Falls Charter School, deliberately chose to be in Manchester. Mill Falls was opened in 2011 through a group of parents who wanted a Montessori education beyond preschool. Today, it has a freestanding kindergarten and serves students through sixth grade as the state’s only public charter Montessori school.
It provides special education services and is reimbursed by the local school district.
“We share students,” Levin said of the school’s relationship with the local district, adding the majority of them are from Manchester, but there are students from other towns, selected through a public lottery. “We are leaning into the public piece. I am a product of public schools. More than a third of our students live below the poverty line. It is baked into our mission to be here. “
Levin has strong feelings when it comes to the EFA program.
“It’s using public funds to support private schools,” she said. “It doesn’t just affect charter public schools, but all public schools. The state doesn’t put enough money into education. They need to invest in its future so that there are more teachers, cops and firefighters, lawyers and managers.”
To Levin, it’s not about traditional public versus charter schools, but the entire education ecosystem.
“I don’t differentiate between charter and traditional public in terms of funding, because as a state we have not made the best choices what schools need,” she said.
She noted that, for kids who require special education and related services, such as physical and occupational therapies, there is a shortage of funds and practitioners, especially in rural areas. Only students enrolled in public schools or placed in a private school by the district have a right to comprehensive special education services.
Emily Whelan is executive director of the Next charter school in Derry, which serves at-risk high school students. The school is capped at 80 students and is located inside the Gilbert H. Hood Middle School in Derry. About 10 percent of its students come from outside of Derry, but the majority are tuition students from Derry.
“The idea of the school came from the district,” Whelan said. “The superintendent said, ‘There are students who are not finishing high school,’ and came to us with a solution to offer those students a different kind of education.”
The school receives federal Title I, II, VI funding to support its students, and Whelan supplements that money by lining up grants. She said slow, intentional growth has been key to the school’s success over the 11 years since it opened with the help with a federal charter school startup grant.
When it comes to oversight, Whelan said no one on the board has access to money or students. There is a double signature policy in place — only the board president or treasurer can sign a check with Whelan.
She declined to comment about the EFA program and its effect on public schools.
Whelan did question how feasible it will be to continue to increase the number of charter schools, since they must raise so much money to stay in operation.
“New Hampshire is not a young and vibrant state. School enrollment across the state is decreasing,” she said. “I don’t see charter schools popping up all over the place.”
Two new charter schools, Synergy in Concord and Seacoast Classical in Newton, opened this school year. Four are set to open next year: Cornerstone in the Mount Washington Valley, Wellheart in Milford, Northstar in Ossipee and New Hampshire Career Academy (which will have multiple sites in partnership with the Community College System).
Decreasing enrollment
Charter schools have reported a steady increase in enrollment, while homeschooling attendance has dropped since the height of the pandemic, according to a 2023 Reaching Higher NH report. Private school enrollment has dipped slightly.
News reports have touted that public school attendance has been in a steady decline, but that tracks with the fact that there are fewer school-age children. The state experienced the largest percentage reduction in people under age 18 (about 10.5 percent) of any state from 2010 to 2020, according to the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute.
For Levin, the greatest challenge for charter schools is funding. She said she is fortunate to have dedicated staff members, but cannot offer them the kind of retirement and health care packages available in traditional districts.
Plus, there are the lingering effects of COVID.
“It’s hard to find people to volunteer their time,” she said. “COVID is still clearly in play. It is not in the rearview mirror. The mindset of the community has shifted.”
Levin said Mill Falls had a robust after-school program, but since COVID there has been a lack of participation.
“People are slow to volunteer and come to things. It impacts funding,” she said.
That is why the fate of public school funding is so important, said Christina Pretorius, public policy director of Reaching Higher NH, a nonprofit public education policy organization.
“Every dollar spent on vouchers is money that is not being spent in district schools and public charter schools,” Pretorius said, referring to the EFA program. “Year after year, we have bills to do things like increase special education funding that don’t succeed … but we have $28 million (this year) to give to school vouchers?”
Reaching Higher, Pretorius said, doesn’t support or oppose any specific legislation but it does want to shed light on the voucher program.
“We are not unique in this trend here in New Hampshire,” she said. “We are seeing across the country that wealthier families are receiving them, and there is a real lack of transparency and accountability on how they are being used. “
These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.