WEST LEBANON — With the national average of gas prices reaching nearly $4 per gallon, and New Hampshire not far behind, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., pointed to a trend in rising costs across the board, which she considers a “cost of living emergency” relating to housing and health care in addition to energy.
Hassan was in the Upper Valley on Tuesday to visit students, faculty and staff at Mount Lebanon Elementary School.
“Look, the president chose to start a war with Iran, and that has driven gas prices up even higher than they already were, and so one of the things I have consistently voted to do is to cease military operation until the president at least comes to Congress with why he thinks going to war with Iran is appropriate and gets congressional consent,” Hassan said.
The Trump administration has yet to receive authorization from Congress to engage in war, as required by the Constitution, Hassan said.
The war began on Feb. 28 with coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran. As part of Trump’s explanation for his administration’s involvement, he pointed to a need to intervene on the Iranian regime, coupled with concerns over nuclear war and retaliation against the the U.S. in the form of missiles, as reported by NPR.
Hassan also accused the Trump administration of driving up costs by taking clean energy off the grid and by failing to extend people’s expiring health care tax cuts under the Affordable Care Act, said Hassan.
Part of the solution to the high cost of living, including gasoline prices, is to stop the war in Iran, said Hassan, but also to make sure that the U.S. is building and driving energy efficient vehicles and electric cars.
Hassan told Mount Lebanon students at the lunch event that she has visited about 50 to 75 schools in total, or five a year, as governor and as a U.S. senator over the past 13 years, and that the needs of students and faculty in New Hampshire help drive her political priorities.
Mount Lebanon Elementary serves approximately 250 students from preschoolers to fourth graders, according to the SAU 88 district website.
Hassan arrived at 11 a.m. to visit classrooms and see what the students and staff were working on. Then, she spoke with a group of five students, including three fourth graders, a first grader and a second grader, about their reading experiences.
Fourth-grader Joe Beliveau told Hassan during the lunch-with-students portion that part of what makes Mount Lebanon special is the number of teachers, with some classrooms having three of them. He also pointed out that reading is always a priority.
“In our class, when there’s free time, we just read,” Joe said.
While Mount Lebanon and the SAU as a whole is fortunate to have the resources to fund the number teachers and programs it has, there are still concerns over federal cuts that could prove limiting.
“I worry that that funding won’t be available in the future because it is really the reason that we’re able to the do the work that we do because teachers have been able to get trained and we are able to provide the materials,” said Principal Katie Roach.
Hassan said that Congress has been working to reject funding cuts to education, and that her office will continue to advocate for students with special needs.
“I am pushing back against the Department of Education cuts. One of the things we have been able to do is restore some of the positions at the Department of Education,” said Hassan.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted in 1975, with a promise from the federal government to cover 40% of the excess costs of supporting students with disabilities. According to Hassan, this promise has not been met, and she is pushing for it to become fully funded.
Hassan advises families to speak with school administrators and disability advocacy groups for solutions that best meet their child’s needs.
“I also encourage families who are experiencing barriers for special education to reach out to the State Department of Education as well as their school boards as well as the Disability Rights Center, and certainly they can reach out to my office,” said Hassan, whose contact information is available on her website.
Hassan departed Mount Lebanon Elementary School at noon, with a tour of the Claremont redevelopment project scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
