In its first meeting in over a year, the bipartisan legislative committee tasked with overseeing the state’s education freedom account program took the unexpected step on Tuesday of electing a Democrat to serve as its chair.
The move, which was possible because one of the Republican representatives on the five-member committee was absent, could lead to increased scrutiny of the controversial program, which nearly doubled in size this year after lawmakers removed an income eligibility requirement.
The new chair, Sen. Suzanne Prentiss of Lebanon, said she planned to spend the next year looking into the program’s effect on public education funding and how families become eligible for an additional special education stipend. She also expressed support for a public accounting of the assessment results for students in the program.
Prentiss’ power will not be limitless. The committee, which was established by statute when the education freedom account program launched in 2021, still has a 3-2 Republican majority — in line with the composition of the House of Representatives — when all members are present.
However, after a year in which the committee failed to convene at all, Democratic leadership could bring more meetings and a more full-throated oversight approach. Prentiss called on Kate Baker Demers, the executive director of the organization that administers the program, to attend subsequent meetings in case questions arise.
The leadership shift comes as opponents of the program have increasingly raised concerns about its transparency.
“The public deserves to know how our tax dollars are being utilized,” Democratic Rep. Hope Damon of Croydon said Tuesday.
The program, which is funded through the state’s education trust fund, allots an average of almost $5,000 per child to families who can spend the money on private school tuition or a range of other education-related expenses. This year, enrollment jumped from 5,765 students to 10,510 — which is expected to cost the state $51.6 million, up from $30.3 million last year.
The Children’s Scholarship Fund, the organization the state contracts to run the program, previously published a list of where that money was spent, but those documents were taken down earlier this year because Baker Demers said she worried they could spur harassment of small companies that receive money through the program. She has said they will be re-uploaded to the organization’s website — potentially in redacted form — by the end of the month.
The oversight committee is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the education freedom account program, including “the impact of state education funding to local districts,” and recommending legislative changes, according to the statute that established it.
The committee is also required to create an annual report, which it has yet to do in 2025. While a Republican majority report has been drafted, Prentiss committed to completing a Democratic minority report by the end of the year.
In previous years, the reports have presented dueling depictions of the health of the program. Last year, for example, the Republican report described it as “popular and successful,” while the Democrat members wrote it was “growing in cost exponentially and with a stunning lack of oversight.”
In previous meetings, members have sparred over what information is necessary for the body to perform its oversight duties.
After the committee met seven times last year, it ceased gathering this year. Republican Sen. Ruth Ward of Stoddard, the previous chair of the committee, blamed the lack of meetings on scheduling issues, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Tuesday’s meeting was scheduled shortly after the news organization reported the committee had not met all year.
Ward did not address the issues on Tuesday and did not respond to a follow-up request for explanation. In a statement, she criticized Democrats’ attacks on the program.
“The EFA program has become one of the most popular and successful school choice programs in the country,” she said. Unfortunately, Democratic opponents of school choice will continue to stand in the way of parents finding the best education for their children.”
When the committee convened in the State House for the first time in 2025, all but one of the members present were new. Republican Rep. Kristin Noble replaced Rep. Glenn Cordelli, who resigned abruptly last month. Democratic Rep. Peggy Balboni replaced Rep. Matthew Hicks, and Prentiss replaced Sen. Debra Altschiller.
Altschiller, an outspoken member of the committee over the past two years, said she only learned she had been replaced this fall when Prentiss appeared on the committee roster. Typically, a party’s leader handles committee assignments, but Prentiss said Democratic Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, the minority leader, did not make the change. Altschiller believed Senate President Sharon Carson was responsible.
“It would be imprudent for me to try to guess what was in the mind of the Senate president when she made the switch,” Altschiller said in an interview. “However, I was rather meticulous and fervent in requesting specific information from the executive director of the Children’s Scholarship Fund.”
Spokespeople for the Democratic and Republican Senate offices did not respond to requests for comment on the change in committee representation. The statute that established the committee grants the Senate president the authority to appoint the senators from both parties.
When the newly-composed committee met on Tuesday, Ward started by asking for nominations for a new chair. Balboni quickly offered up Prentiss and all four of the members present approved of the nomination.
It is unusual for a member of a minority party to chair a bipartisan committee in the legislature, particularly on a topic as politically divisive as the education freedom account program.
“It’s going to change things dramatically,” Altschiller predicted.
Balboni said she hoped the selection of Prentiss would lead to the return of monthly meetings and to the implementation of a live stream.
“It’s incredibly important that when we have so much [money] going to this program, that we have someone overseeing it,” Balboni said.
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