November 2020 Newsletter

-- Upcoming SDGA events --

A Virtual Happy Hour!

Raise a glass of holiday cheer with your SDGA friends on Zoom and talk about your favorite topics outside the structure of a meeting.
This is an SDGA members-only event but spouses and significant others are welcome.
Thursday, Dec. 3, 7:30 - 9:00 pm.
Zoom invitations to all our members will be sent on Dec. 2.  Join us for some fun!

Put this on your calendar now!

Coming..... 

In January, we hope to have a speaker on the Blaine Amendment, it's reversal by the Federal Supreme Court, and what this will mean to towns that tuition students to out-of-district schools. Stay tuned for a date.
 

SDGA Webinar:  "Data Mining the DOE Website."

Board member, Arthur Green, guided participants through the NH Department of Education's website for data of interest to school boards and budget committees.

The November 10th webinar, "Data Mining the DOE Website," can be viewed on the members only portion of SDGANH.org. (I apologize for neglecting to record the introduction to the presentation.)
 

Important Legislative Initiatives by SDGA

Making Collective Bargaining Public
The SDGA board has agreed to submit draft legislation that would require public entities to negotiate collective agreements in public, and to require draft collective agreement contracts to be public once presented to both parties.  I am happy to announce that Representative Len Turcotte will be the lead sponsor in the House for these two bills. He was formerly a negotiator for a large pilot's union and knows the dynamics as well as anyone. His support and advocacy will be invaluable. We are still looking for a Senator to be lead sponsor in the Senate simultaneously. By making the collective bargaining process transparent, the SDGA believes the public will have greater insight into the issues and more of an influence over the outcome via communication with their elective representatives during the process rather than an up or down vote once the contract has been ratified by both parties.

Requiring Proposed Budgets as Active Spreadsheets and Other Mandatory Information
Tony Piemonte, Representative from Sandown, is once again introducing a bill to require public bodies to provide budget information in active spreadsheet format. SDGA board member, Wayne Goertel, who drafted the aforementioned bill last year, has this year drafted an additional bill to require minimum standards of information in budgets given to elected officials and the public. Rep. Piemonte may delay the introduction of this second budget bill until the next legislative session.

How We Need You to Help
Once our bills are introduced, they will be assigned to committees who will conduct public hearings. Hearings take place in January and February. You can be certain that major union officials will be present to object to having their work on view.  It is also likely that the NH Municipal Association will object to budget transparency provisions. We will need SDGA members to testify in Concord at these public committee meetings or write letters of support for these bills. Comments are generally kept to three minutes and if we coordinate them in advance we can make quite a considered argument. The number of people who show up in support or in objection to bills does weigh considerably on the hearing committee members. If we are to prevail, we must show up in numbers. Contact me to keep informed. I will also send out an email to the membership when hearing dates are known. Please help change history in NH.  We can get this done!
 

Reminder......

Membership Fees Due on Jan. 1

https://sdganh.org/donate/

Articles and Websites of Interest

Joe Mendola:  "Indoctrination isn't an Adequate Education" 
https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/joseph-mendola-indoctrinating-our-children-isnt-an-education/article_63f886af-0fbc-5194-aa69-ff535f4de2c0.html

Mike Moffat:  "My Turn: Politics, proselytization, and preordination"https://www.concordmonitor.com/Education-funding-37281837

Jon DiPetro's Blog:  "The Village Skeptic"
https://skeptic.jondipietro.com/

Right to Know New Hampshire
http://RighttoKnowNH.com

NH DOE News

Covid 19 resources
https://www.nh.gov/covid19/

Covid 19 Resources for Schools
https://www.education.nh.gov/who-we-are/commissioner/covid-19

Students with IEPs need full support of schools
https://www.education.nh.gov/news/students-ieps-need-full-support-schools      
 

Get Involved in SDGA

Help us with outreach: Are you involved in groups interested in school-related issues? Local GOP and taxpayer groups come to mind. Invite us to speak!

If you're not already a member, and you want to support what you're seeing and/or get involved, please join SDGA. Fill out an application on our web site! Dues are $20, which we'll ask you for after we process your application.

Next time you renew, consider a NEW Lifetime membership for $200! Renew your yearly membership here.

Or make a donation! We run on a shoestring, and every little bit helps. 

Members are encouraged to join the SDGA facebook group to see events and announcements and to have discussions about them. The SDGA facebook page shows our announcements only.

               _____________________________________________________________________________

Warm best,
Donna Green
President, School District Governance Association
SDGAofNH@gmail.com