A new bill in New Hampshire proposes reducing the requirements for an “adequate” education.HB 283, “an act relative to the list of subjects that comprise an adequate education,” proposes to remove several subjects from the state’s educational requirements.
Under “Substantive Educational Content of an Adequate Education,” the bill removes the following courses:
Arts education, including music and visual arts
World languages
Engineering and technologies, including technology applications
Personal finance literacy
Computer science
Additionally, the social studies requirement would no longer include civics, government, economics, geography, history, and Holocaust and genocide education.
That leaves English/language arts and reading, mathematics, science, physical education, health and wellness education, and unspecified social studies.
The credits required for a high school diploma would be reduced from 13 to 8.
HB 283 was introduced on February 5. The bill’s sponsor is State Representative Dan McGuire. McGuire holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and has worked in the computer industry as well serving four years as an assistant professor of computer engineering at UC Santa Cruz.
In a press release on February 7, McGuire cites low test scores and argues that the bill “empowers educators to focus on what matters most—ensuring students can read, write, and do math at proficient levels.”
McGuire’s call to prioritize tested subjects is reminiscent of one of the major criticisms of Common Core and related testing– that excessive focus on tested subjects to the detriment of all others reduced the overall quality of American education.
Reducing requirements for adequate education would also lower the requirements for anyone trying to start a new charter school or private school to take advantage of the state’s taxpayer-funded school voucher program. This session is also considering HB 115, which would make all families eligible for the vouchers, regardless of income (Reach Higher NH estimates the expanded vouchers would cost the state $100 million). The bill would also allow local school districts to slash educational offerings dramatically.
Comments on the public comment page of Legiscan have been critical of the bill. “Why would anyone want our children less educated?” asks one poster. Adds another, “Why would we want to go backwards to lower standards.”
McGuire and his wife moved to New Hampshire in 2005 as part of the Free State Project. The FSP was an initiative begun in the 2001 to recruit 20,000 Libertarians to a low-population state where they could commandeer and reduce the government; in 2003, they selected New Hampshire for their “thousands of freedom-loving people.”
The Free State Project made education news in 2022 when free staters Ian and Jody Underwood attempted to cut Croydon’s education budget in half and were thwarted by a local outpouring of support for