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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/15/2011 2:23:29 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New Hampshire: Take Action to Support Parental Choice in Education! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== New Hampshire: Take Action to Support Parental Choice in Education! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Parents who choose to privately educate their children may have the opportunity to receive a property tax reduction. The House Municipal and County Government Committee is currently considering House Bill 340, which would provide a per child property tax abatement for parents who choose to homeschool their children or enroll them in a private school. There is a public hearing for the bill on Thursday, February 17, 2011. Please take action, as requested below, to support this change that would promote parental choice in education. ACTION REQUESTED 1) If you are able, attend the hearing on Tuesday, February 17. The hearing will be at 11:10 a.m. in Legislative Office Building 301 2) Please contact members of the House Municipal and County Government Committee and urge them to support HB 340. Please convey the following message, but be sure to use your own words: "Please support HB 340. This bill would recognize that citizens who privately educate their children save the state money. These parents personally bear the cost of educating their children which would otherwise be borne by their local school district. HB 340's tax abatement language will allow municipalities the freedom to grant private educators a tax break recognizing this fact." If your last name begins with A-L, contact representatives 1-9. If your last name begins with M-Z, contact representatives 10-17. Contact information for members of the committee is below: 1. Representative Ferrante - Committee Chair Phone: (603) 434-8974 Email: bevferrante@yahoo.com 2. Representative Sterling - Vice Chair Phone: (603) 532-8284 Email: fwsterling@myfairpoint.net 3. Representative Munck - Clerk Phone: (603) 692-3316 Email: philip.munck@leg.state.nh.us 4. Representative Patten Phone: (603) 253-6927 Email: blpatten@hotmail.com 5. Representative Belanger Phone: (603) 465-2301 Email: jim.belanger@leg.state.nh.us 6. Representative Copeland Phone: (603) 580-1998 Email: tim@copelandforstratham.com 7. Representative Stroud Phone: (603)424-0025 Email: kathleen.stroud@leg.state.nh.us 8. Representative Hooper Phone: (603) 749-6418 Email: dhooper5@comcast.net 9. Representative Lockwood Phone: (603) 783-4349 Email: priscillalockwood@myfairpoint.net 10. Representative Burt Phone: (603) 624-5084 Email: john.burt@leg.state.nh.us 11. Representative Moore Phone: (603) 399-4310 Email: robert.moore@leg.state.nh.us 12. Representative DeStefano Phone: (603) 224-2641 Email: sdestefano@aol.com 13. Representative Tatro Phone: (603) 352-3904 Email: bruce.tatro@leg.state.nh.us 14. Representative Accornero Phone: (603) 387-9708 Email: harry.accornero@leg.state.nh.us 15. Representative Coffey Phone: (603) 878-3173 Email: jim@coffey.net 16. Representative Shackett Phone: (603) 744-5895 Email: jeffrey.shackett@leg.state.nh.us 17. Representative Roberts Phone: (603) 352-1105 Email: kriseroberts@live.com BACKGROUND Homeschoolers currently pay for the public education system while they privately educate their own children. This "double taxation" is unfair. While almost all homeschoolers would like to be free of the tax burden of public schools they do not use themselves, a significant number of homeschool leaders are concerned about any effort to get benefits from the government. Most homeschool leaders agree that vouchers (direct payments from the government to private or homeschools) are unacceptable because of the likely controls that would follow and the consequent loss of freedom that comes with such money. As an alternative, HSLDA supports another vehicle: tax credits, or in the case of a property tax state like New Hampshire, educational property tax abatement. Parents and individuals who provide for a child's education privately would be allowed to keep some of their tax money that would otherwise have been used to fund public education. Education property tax abatement legislation gives parents who choose to privately educate their children a reduction in property taxes, since they are avoiding what would otherwise be additional cost for their local school district. It appears from the bill that such authorizing language would simply "permit" the municipal authority to allow such abatement. Passage of HB 340 does not guarantee that any given municipality will grant such abatement. However, parents would have the option of petitioning their municipality for abatement. Such a tax abatement offers several benefits: > Education property tax abatement will give parents true choice in education. This tax abatement will help reduce the "double tax burden" on parents who choose private or home education. > Education property tax abatement will benefit public schools. By encouraging students to attend private schools or homeschools, the tax abatement will reduce overcrowded public school class sizes and the student-to-teacher ratio, making more teachers available to public school students. > Education property tax abatement will benefit low-income families. This tax abatement provides additional opportunities for low-income families to choose the form of education that best meets the needs of their children. Thank you for your effort to promote parental choice in education. Very truly yours, Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Remember the last time you wrote a term paper? Research can be grueling-digging through archives, wading through articles, conducting interviews. But if it's related to homeschooling, you can relax a little. There's a good chance that you'll find what you're looking for in HSLDA's bimonthly Home School Court Report. Providing in-depth, insightful articles on much of what affects the world of homeschoolers, the Court Report is a must-read for the serious homeschooler. This publication is provided free to each HSLDA member. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1933 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
