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New stories from our Competency-Based Learning series
Halfway there
State Board of Education gets halfway through updating its minimum standards for schools: The N.H. Board of Education voted Wednesday morning to approve the first half of a new set of minimum standards for schools, a document which has gone through several rewrites and drawn sharp criticism from educators and the public.
Waiting for approval
With deadline looming, debate and concern over school minimum standards continue: With a September deadline looming, the State Board of Education has not even begun considering the “back half” of the document after only recently approving the first half.
New GSNC Stories
The demise of work release programs in New Hampshire jails
COVID and changes in incarceration rates have led to phaseout of programs, but they’re still operating at state prisons: Work release programs have been phased out at New Hampshire's county jails, the result of a shift in the criminal justice system that has reduced the number of eligible prisoners. As incarceration rates for lower-level offenses have dwindled, jails lack the numbers of inmates needed to continue their work release programs.
Who’s checking?
Lack of audit for state’s Education Freedom Account program raises concerns. Despite law requiring legislative review, Department of Education has erected roadblocks: New Hampshire legislators and public education advocates say they’re increasingly concerned that financial information about the state’s Education Freedom Account program is being hidden from public view. Since its inception in 2021, the taxpayer-funded voucher-like program has distributed $44,918,979 to families sending their children to private schools and other alternatives to their local public schools.
Dispute over a chokehold
State Corrections Department appeals reinstatement of officer in use-of-force case; Commissioner objects to finding on alleged use of chokehold: The N.H. Department of Corrections is asking the state Supreme Court to order a new hearing after an appeals board ordered reinstatement of a corrections officer. The officer was fired for allegedly using excessive force on a cuffed and shackled inmate who said he was suicidal. The corrections department contends the Personnel Appeals Board erred when it denied it a full evidentiary hearing in the termination of Lt. Thomas Macholl.
A new youth-specific voter information project by the Granite State News Collaborative and its partners is launching today. The initiative, Know Your Vote, was inspired by the Baltimore Beat’s Youth Voter Guide and aims to educate New Hampshire’s voters under 29 ahead of the 2024 elections.
It will feature online and social media content reported and produced by student and young professional journalists that will be available across the online and social platforms of the Granite State News Collaborative and its partners.
To kick off the project, we are asking young voters to complete a survey (also available in Spanish). Reporters will use the survey results as the basis for the articles included in the guide.The articles will be released throughout the summer and fall through GSNC’s website, its local news partners and social media. The hope is that the guide will be something young voters can use and refer to often in the lead up to the elections.