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

Ohhh...We're Halfway There!

While most of the nation is focused on staying cool during a recording-setting heat wave, the weather isn’t the only place where records are being set.  This week marks the halfway point of the year, and it's been school choice success after success so far in 2012.

Already this year, there have been four new programs enacted in Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Hampshire—making for 31 programs nationwide, to anyone who is counting. That brings the total number of voucher programs to 16 and scholarship tax credit programs to 13. 

In fact, check out the 2012 Breakthrough Victories for Children handout, which updates the 2011-12 School Choice Yearbook published earlier this year by the Alliance for School Choice.  But in the meantime, here are some significant and fun facts on the momentum of school choice:

• Four new programs have been created in Louisiana, New Hampshire, Mississippi, and Virginia in 2012. 
• Five programs have been expanded in four states in 2012—Arizona expanded both its Individual School Tuition Organization Tax Credit and its Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program.
• Three states—the most in any year so far—have joined the family of states providing private school choice.
• Thanks to the statewide expansion of Louisiana’s Student Scholarships for Excellence Program, 380,000 children are eligible under the program.
• School choice has seen a 98.3 percent growth in number of programs in last five years and a 63.6 percent increase in the number of states offering such programs.
• In the 2011-12 legislation session, 35 chambers in 19 states passed private school choice legislation.  That’s a 40 percent increase in the number of chambers and a 35.7 percent increase in the number of states since the 2009-10 legislative session.
• Nearly one-third of states (32 percent) have enacted private school choice programs.
• Mississippi and Ohio are the only two states that have voucher programs for specific special needs—dyslexia and autism respectively.  Across the nation there are 11 programs specifically tailored for students with special needs.
• With future enrollment caps due to be lifted in places like Indiana and Racine, Wis., and with statewide expansions like in Louisiana, one million children could be eligible to participate in private school choice programs in the next few years.

Download our Yearbook and the corresponding update sheet for all the numbers.

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

Legislative Update: From the Bayou State to the Granite State

The school choice world was abuzz yesterday with exciting news from our nation’s capital, but D.C. isn’t the only place where school choice news is brewing.  Here’s a legislative and news update on bills all across the nation:

Louisiana

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved measures on the framework for the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program, which was expanded statewide earlier this year.  BESE included a new provision, creating a cap on how much private schools can raise tuition as they accept voucher students. The state Department of Education is continuing to develop accountability requirements for the program.

The expanded program is set to begin in the 2012-13 school year with more than 5,000 scholarships spots available in schools statewide.

New Hampshire

Governor John Lynch yesterday vetoed legislation that would create a scholarship tax credit program in the Granite State.  Senate Bill 372 would allow businesses to donate to scholarship organizations that would provide scholarships to children from low- and middle-income families.  The veto comes despite broad support for the legislation in both chambers of the legislature, which passed the bill with a veto-proof majority.  In his veto message, Lynch falsely cited that the bill had no income restrictions, despite the legislation requiring that students come from families with a household income of 300 percent or less.

The legislature is set to convene on June 27, where it can take up the bill and override Governor Lynch’s veto.

North Carolina

The Equal Opportunity School Tax Credit, proposed legislation that would provide scholarships for students from low-income families to attend the public or private school of their parents’ choice, has been integrated into a larger education overhaul bill.  The House Education Committee rolled HB 1104 into the Excellent Public Schools Act, which also includes measures to grow public school reading programs, end teacher tenure, and implement merit pay.

Granite State Legislature Sets Support for School Choice in Stone

House and Senate both pass legislation to create a scholarship tax credit program

South Carolina isn’t the only state passing school choice legislation this week.

The New Hampshire House yesterday overwhelmingly approved a scholarship tax credit bill by a 173-27 vote.  The Senate passed similar legislation last week with a 17-7 vote.

The School Choice Scholarship Act would create a scholarship tax credit program allowing businesses to donate money to scholarship organizations for an 85 percent tax credit.  The donated money would help students attend the private or public school of their parents’ choice.

Championed by House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, House Bill 1607 is also expected to save the state $8 million over the next two budget cycles, according to a study by the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.

In the legislation that passed the Senate, the program is capped at $3.4 million in the program’s first year and $5.1 million in the second year.  Beginning in the program’s third year, the statewide cap would increase by 25 percent in any year when donations reached 80 percent of the cap.  The House version differs slightly by limiting the statewide cap to $6.8 million in the third year.

Rock Solid Ideas for the Granite State

Presidential hopefuls aren't the only folks making noise in New Hampshire this week: school choice supporters are having their voices heard, too. In fact, the New Hampshire General Court has established a committee to study how school choice—vouchers and tax credits—can help students access a quality education.

New Hampshire spends a whopping $11,700 for every student to attend public school in the state, with dismal results: only 39 percent of 8th graders are proficient in math and 43 percent are proficient in reading.

Here’s what leaders in Concord should consider:

Twelve states and the District of Columbia currently operate school choice programs giving more than 190,811 students access to high-quality private schools.  With more than 20 programs spanning the nation, low-income children, special needs children, foster care children, and students attending persistently failing schools have the chance to succeed.

• School voucher programs allow disadvantaged children to receive scholarships to attend the schools of their parents’ choice. In voucher programs, education dollars follow the student. With 20.5 percent of New Hampshire students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, a means-tested voucher program is a great option for the Granite State.

• Scholarship tax credit programs allow businesses and individuals to donate to scholarship-granting organizations that help children attend quality schools. Tax credit programs have helped more than 123,500 students across the nation receive scholarships.

The New Hampshire Committee on school choice is opening the door to school choice in the state.  New Hampshire elected officials need only to look around at the programs across the country for effective, highly-accountable programs that help thousands of children access a great education.

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