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Following the passage HB 1665, relative to student eligibility for the education freedom accounts program, Senator Altschiller issued the following statement:

Senator Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham), stated, “We as legislators have a duty to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and ensure that all students have access to an education that will prepare them for the future. The runaway train that has become the EFA program accomplishes neither of those duties, and in fact, flies in direct opposition to them.

“With little to no oversight over the EFA program, no auditing of participants, and unclear outcomes for students, it is unfathomable that we are once again expanding this program only 10 months since the last expansion– all while the Senate Republicans continue to refuse to place any meaningful guardrails on this program.

“As the state is already facing multiple court cases for under-funding public education, diverting even more money to the EFA program can only be seen for what it is, a coordinated attack to cripple our public school system in favor of private, often religious schools, that pick and choose their body and then, and segregate children into belief systems.”