Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of this important Committee on Education Policy.
I wish to speak against HB 283 by beginning with a short but luminous list:
Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard
Jonathan M. Daniels
Justice David H. Souter
Governor Kelly Ayotte.
Explorer, martyr and saint, jurist, civil servant. They are just a few of a list of powerful leaders who were products of the Public Schools of New Hampshire. That educational system was committed to their intellectual curiosity, social development, and personal growth. The value of that commitment redounded well beyond the borders of the Granite State.
I wonder if the bill before us would ensure or jeopardize New Hampshire’s capacity to produce such individuals. I wonder if HB 283, had it been in effect, would have endued them with the social wisdom and intellectual rigor that our world demands, even more than when they roamed the halls of their schools.
I wonder if, instead, this bill essentially is tantamount to a surrender to mediocrity. Rather than redoubling our commitment to bring quality education to every young person in New Hampshire, regardless of zip code, we will instead be saying, we have failed in providing quality education to all, but let us find a way to say that our collective failure is a victory. In this way we don’t have to aspire beyond adequacy in education. Giving up on the moral demands of our children, our society, and our future is surrender. Calling such surrender victory does not work in foreign policy. I would hope it would not be acceptable when it comes to our children and our future.
Respectfully submitted,
Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld