The president of one of New Hampshire's teachers’ unions is suing the state's top education official, alleging that the Department of Education is unlawfully using money earmarked for public schools to pay for a voucher-like school choice program.
The lawsuit takes aim at the Education Freedom Accounts, a program that sends state aid to low and moderate-income families to pay for non-public school options, including parochial schools and home education. The program’s funding comes from the state’s Education Trust Fund, which is supported through taxes and lottery ticket sales.
The complaint alleges that this funding mechanism violates state law, because the Education Trust Fund and lottery are intended to fund public schools.
Deb Howes, president of the New Hampshire chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, filed the complaint on Thursday in Merrimack Superior Court. Howes is suing as a “citizen taxpayer,” a right enshrined by a ballot change to the New Hampshire State Constitution in 2018. She names education commissioner Frank Edelblut as a defendant.
Education Freedom Accounts have been a political flashpoint since it began in 2021, with Republican lawmakers and candidates pointing to its popularity as a reason to support and expand it, and Democrats criticizing it for siphoning funds away from public schools.
A day after the lawsuit, the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based libertarian public interest law firm that represents parents and others in school choice lawsuits, said it was “poised to defend” the Education Freedom Accounts in court.
A spokesperson for the N.H. Department of Education said the department is aware of the lawsuit and "is not commenting on the pending litigation."
Lawmakers have introduced at least fifteen bills related to the program for next year, though most are still in draft form. The lawsuit could prompt additional legislation designed to address funding questions.
