Meet Kate Baker: The Executive Director that’s Putting School Choice into Action in New Hampshire

We often hear from the families whose lives have transformed thanks to private school choice.  We hear from schools that participate in the 32 programs nationwide; and we hear from elected officials who support strong educational options. 

Today, we’re hearing a new side to school choice.  Kate Baker is the executive director of NEO-New Hampshire, the first scholarship tuition organization working in New Hampshire.  Earlier this year, the New Hampshire Education Tax Credit was created to allow children from low- and middle-income families to attend the school of their parents’ choice. 

New Hampshire families—and School Choice Now!—are excited to see how this program will help thousands of students across the state. Earlier this week, a reporter with the Concord Monitor spoke with Baker about her efforts and what’s to come:

Question: What do you mean, best practices?

“I'm finding that scholarships organizations will do better and more people will want to give if they are meeting the needs of the children with the highest need. People want to help the children that need help. . . That's really the point.”

Question: So you were an accountant before taking this job?

“I've been kind of doing this all along, helping families to create educational options for their children, helping them to find the right option.”

Question: What have you been doing in the first month of work?

 “There's an organization in New York called the Children's Scholarship Fund and they've been mentoring us how to do this right. So rather than me reinventing the whole wheel, I'm looking at the best practices and seeing how do people do this correctly.”

Question: Did you hear about the position or did they hear about you?

“Somebody made a joke once, they said, 'all school choice paths in New Hampshire lead to Kate Baker.' . . . I had crossed paths with the people working on the legislation, and so for example, when the governor vetoed the legislation, I got a grassroots group to make calls to the state (representatives) and so I was crossing paths with the other people that were working on it in New Hampshire.”

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG