Life in NH is never dull! Look at this turnout for the injunction hearing in the matter of NHDoE vs. Town of Croydon school board.
Cliff-ish Notes:
The state is arguing that *it* needs an injunction to immediately remove 4 kids who were placed in a Montessori school otherwise *the state* will suffer irreparable harm. Notwithstanding the fact that the children are FLOURISHING at their new school, and despite the fact that the taxpayers of Croydon are actually saving $3,000 per kid.
Said the AG’s office: “Public students with public funds need to be in public schools. Those children don’t belong there [at Montessori]!” The state lawyer asked for an injunction, saying that parents can either pay privately, out of pocket for their children to go to Montessori (double taxed jeopardy, anyone?) or the court must order the kids back to the Newport public school IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
This, argued with a statist-straight-tist face after the DoE KNEW about the issue in JUNE DURING THE HOLIDAYS and after this is the second year in which this approach has been taken for kids who need it.
In a June letter to the DoE, the Croydon attorney wrote: “This practice [sending kids to the best school for them] will continue,” and yet, the AG and the DoE did NOTHING…
…Until the school year started to… sue and disrupt perfectly happy kids lives… I smell… let me be gracious… incompetence?
The Croydon attorney, who is a former NH Supreme Court judge, more rationally argued–after saying, “We told them in June, so BRING IT ON, BABY!” (best line of the day)–that allowing the children to go to a school better suited to their needs was better. *Doh.* He went on to say: “The bill is already paid until February 2016. The parents want their kids there. The school board wants the kids there. The kids WANT TO BE there. They are paying less money for a better education.”
BUT NOOOOOOO… the state in all its wisdom wants to kids back in their pre-approved reeducation camp. Must not allow this flight, this, shall we say, brain drain to begin, otherwise, oh, lordy mama, everyone might want to… choose what is best for them, and we can’t have that now, can we???
My money is on the DoE’s request for injunctive relief not being granted, mostly because the state dillydallied and didn’t file the motion during the vacay. If that’s the case, 1-0 for Croydon and school choice. Either way, a hearing will be set on the merits of the case, and this too should be interesting. The AGs office, IMO, overplayed its hand in trying for injunctive relief. But, then, this is the nature of statism: you belong to us. They also underestimated the courageous people who believe in what is best for the individual person.
If the court does the right thing–the order about the injunctive relief will come out in the next 48 hours–then the children can at least see out the current school year at their CHOSEN, CHEAPER school.
This case can have a monumental impact on school choice in NH, where, btw, several other schools already send their kids to non-public schools, like Pinkerton and schools in Vermont. Stay tuned for details as they unfold.