Protect public ed in NH

We write to our state legislators as representatives of the Upper Valley AREA schools — Grantham, Lebanon, and Plainfield — on behalf of our students, families and communities. For more than 25 years, our AREA agreement has exemplified the strength of local partnerships in public education. Grounded in open communication, collaborative decision-making, and a shared dedication to educational excellence, our partnership demonstrates how school districts can work together to maximize resources and expand opportunities for all students.

We are writing to express our strong opposition to current legislative efforts to expand voucher programs and implement open enrollment policies. These proposals introduce significant fiscal uncertainty, place undue strain on local taxpayers, and jeopardize the programming and services our schools are able to provide. The AREA schools — built on a foundation of equity, local investment and student-centered governance — view these efforts as a serious threat to the integrity of public education in New Hampshire.

These policies do not strengthen our public schools. Instead, they risk widening opportunity gaps, undermining equity among families, and shifting additional costs to already overburdened local communities. They interfere with the local control that has long guided the success of our AREA partnership and threaten to destabilize the thoughtful, community-driven decisions that benefit our students every day.

We respectfully urge you to oppose all legislation related to voucher expansion and open enrollment. We ask that you stand with your local public schools — those that serve every student and are accountable to every member of the community. Our districts have built a successful and enduring collaboration without the need for state intervention; we are deeply concerned that these proposed measures will dismantle what we have worked so hard to build.

Thank you for your continued service and for upholding the principles of equity, local control, and strong public education in New Hampshire.

Lesley Nesbitt

Grantham

Lil Maughan

Lebanon

Jenny Ramsey

Plainfield

The writers are school board chairs in their respective communities, which are linked by an AREA agreement for secondary schooling.

Hartford should tax theater tickets

The Hartford Selectboard has done it again, with their recent short-sighted vote to end curbside recycling. This decision, while purporting to reduce property taxes, shifts the cost of recycling to individual households, who will have to buy recycling permits and drive to the town’s solid waste facility with their recyclables.

About 30 years ago, we attended a special town meeting at Hartford High School, where about 300 residents voted unanimously to spend $103,000 a year to institute curbside recycling — the only unanimous vote I can recall in my 47 years in Hartford. By way of comparison, our bi-weekly trash pickup has escalated during the same period of time from $16 to around $125.

Continuing curbside pickup would have been a perfect use for some of the revenue from the new local option general sales tax, but the Selectboard seems determined to put change in one pocket with token property tax breaks while picking another pocket in terms of additional direct costs paid by Hartford property owners.

Shortly after curbside recycling began, we were asked to sign an easement for a neighborhood recycling facility on our Elmwood Court property. We gladly granted it and maintain that recycling facility, which is consistently used by all of our neighbors. Now we face the unenviable prospect of either persuading them to stop using what they’ve long taken for granted, or taking responsibility for disposing of their recyclables.

While serving on the commission that created Hartford’s original Town Charter, I learned that towns and cities cannot pass ordinances or levy taxes without enabling legislation on the state level. I believe I’ve come up with the perfect tax for the Town of Hartford: a levy on theater tickets sold in town. Apparently enabling legislation already exists, because other towns levy such a tax. I’m not suggesting taxing church suppers, but who would object to a 5% surcharge on a $70 theater ticket, which is uniquely suited to Hartford’s theater district and would primarily be paid by out-of-town folks? Revenue from such a tax could support curbside recycling and possibly be used for other necessary projects.

William A. Wittik

Hartford

A touchstone’s touchstone

Jim Kenyon’s column of May 17 is titled “For Mahdawi, Upper Valley is a touchstone.” I would add that for the Upper Valley, the nation and beyond, Mohsen Mahdawi himself is a touchstone for thoughtful people everywhere.

I was a student in David Bisno’s Dartmouth Osher class last year entitled “Whose Land is it Anyway?” a superb historical overview of what lies behind today’s brutal continuation of the struggle between two peoples who legitimately claim roots in the same land. Bisno invited Mahdawi to address the penultimate class, and we heard a balanced and hopeful case made for shared occupancy of lands once home to each.

Mahdawi is not the first to find Vermonters welcoming and protective of those born elsewhere and familiar with jail cells controlled by the powerful seeking to silence voices they fear will find receptive listeners. Power begets arrogance, and protected free speech is the essential bulwark to keep it in check.

Yes, Mohsen Mahdawi is our touchstone. And thank you Jim Kenyon.

Joseph S. Warner

Unity