Gov. Maggie Hassan's nomination of longtime education activist Bill Duncan to the New Hampshire Board of Education is drawing fire from supporters of charter schools and an education tax credit law.
Senate Republican Leader Jeb Bradley says Monday that Duncan can't serve as an unbiased administrator of programs he spent years trying to dismantle. Duncan is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the business tax credit that gives scholarships to students who attend private and religious schools.
Matt Southerton, Director of the New Hampshire Center for Innovative schools, a charter school advocacy organization, says Duncan has a history of alarming anti-charter school rhetoric.
Duncan responds that he does support charter schools that have close working relationships with their school districts. But he adds that he wants to ensure that charters are geographically diverse and economically sustainable.
