Education grant private management firm gets five-year extension
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May 15—CONCORD — The Republican-led Executive Council voted, 4-1, to give a five-year extension for the private, nonprofit Children's Scholarship Fund to manage the state's taxpayer-funded education grants that provide support to low- and moderate-income parents to send their children to private, alternative, public or home schools for learning.
Councilor and Democratic candidate for governor Cinde Warmington of Concord was the lone opponent, charging the grants, known as Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs), have led to higher local property taxes with not enough accountability for spending tens of millions of dollars.
"This nothing but a subsidizing of private schools in our state, driving up the costs for taxpayers in our communities without any real oversight to make sure the dollars are well spent," Warmington said.
Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said EFAs have provided an essential alternative for parents that need instruction outside the traditional public school system for their children.
"The program is a benefit to children, families and taxpayers in New Hampshire," Edelblut said.
The state can choose to extend the agreement three more years to June 30, 2032.
Warmington charged the contract allows for Edelblut and the Department of Education to control access to information about the program as Legislative Budget Assistant Michael Kane's staff does a performance audit of the management services.
Edelblut said he's working with Kane's staff and Attorney General John Formella and is confident they will all work out an "agreed-to scope" for the audit.
While his office asked other national education groups if they had any interest in doing the work, Edelblut said the existing vendor is the only one "qualified" under the language of the law that created EFAs.
"We did encourage others to apply but they chose not to," Edelblut said.
Councilor Janet Stevens, R-Rye, said she was satisfied the contract had the external and internal controls to properly manage the program.
