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1 Education; Adequate Public Education; Policy and Purpose. RSA 193-E:1, I-II is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
I. It is the policy of the state of New Hampshire that public elementary and secondary education shall provide all students with the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them for successful participation in the social, economic, scientific, technological, and political systems of a free government, now and in the years to come; an education that is consistent with the state-established academic standards, and school district or school curriculum.
II. Respecting New Hampshire's long tradition of community involvement, it is the purpose of this chapter to ensure that appropriate means are established to provide an adequate education through an integrated public education system of shared responsibility between state and local government, in recognition of the fact that local governmental entities, including school districts, are created by the state, receive their authority to act and operate from the state, and are therefore indivisible from the state for the purposes of providing an adequate education. In this system, the state and local governmental entities function collectively to ensure that an adequate version of the academic program defined in RSA 193-E:2-a is provided to New Hampshire pupils. Such a system of shared responsibility ensures flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches to instruction and curriculum tailored to meet student needs, allows local governments to make the local infrastructure and administrative choices that are best for their particular communities, and helps ensure that local school districts remain accountable and responsive to community and family needs. How the state and its local governmental entities choose to raise, allocate, and spend financial resources to implement this integrated public education system is a political policy matter reserved to legislative and executive judgment and control.
2 Education; Adequate Public Education; Substantive Educational Content of an Adequate Education. Amend RSA 193-E:2-a, I(a) to read as follows:
I.(a) Beginning in the school year 2008-2009, and for each year thereafter, the specific criteria and substantive educational program that deliver the opportunity for an adequate education shall be defined and identified as the school approval standards in the following learning areas:
(1) English/language arts and reading.
(2) Mathematics.
(3) Science.
(4) Social studies, including civics, government, economics, geography, history, and Holocaust and genocide education.
(5) Arts education, including music and visual arts.
(6) World languages.
(7) Health and wellness education, including a policy for violations of RSA 126-K:8, I(a).
(8) Physical education.
(9) Engineering and technologies including technology applications.
(10) Personal finance literacy.
(11) Computer science.
3 Education; School Money; Cost of an Opportunity for an Adequate Education. RSA 198:40-a, III is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
III. The sum total calculated under paragraph II shall be computed toward the cost of an adequate education, defined in RSA 193-E:2-a, including all differentiated aid. The department shall determine the cost of an adequate education, as defined in RSA 193-E:2-a, for each municipality based on the ADMR of pupils who reside in that municipality.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Text to be added highlighted in green.
1 Education; Adequate Public Education; Policy and Purpose. RSA 193-E:1, I-II is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
I. It is the policy of the state of New Hampshire that public elementary and secondary education shall provide all students with the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them for successful participation in the social, economic, scientific, technological, and political systems of a free government, now and in the years to come; an education that is consistent with the state-established academic standards, and school district or school curriculum.
II. Respecting New Hampshire's long tradition of community involvement, it is the purpose of this chapter to ensure that appropriate means are established to provide an adequate education through an integrated public education system of shared responsibility between state and local government, in recognition of the fact that local governmental entities, including school districts, are created by the state, receive their authority to act and operate from the state, and are therefore indivisible from the state for the purposes of providing an adequate education. In this system, the state and local governmental entities function collectively to ensure that an adequate version of the academic program defined in RSA 193-E:2-a is provided to New Hampshire pupils. Such a system of shared responsibility ensures flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches to instruction and curriculum tailored to meet student needs, allows local governments to make the local infrastructure and administrative choices that are best for their particular communities, and helps ensure that local school districts remain accountable and responsive to community and family needs. How the state and its local governmental entities choose to raise, allocate, and spend financial resources to implement this integrated public education system is a political policy matter reserved to legislative and executive judgment and control.
2 Education; Adequate Public Education; Substantive Educational Content of an Adequate Education. Amend RSA 193-E:2-a, I(a) to read as follows:
I.(a) An adequate education shall be defined and identified as the school approval standards in the following learning areas:
(1) English/language arts and reading.
(2) Mathematics.
(3) Science.
(4) Social studies, including civics, government, economics, geography, history, and Holocaust and genocide education.
(5) Arts education, including music and visual arts.
(6) World languages.
(7) Health and wellness education, including a policy for violations of RSA 126-K:8, I(a).
(8) Physical education.
(9) Engineering and technologies including technology applications.
(10) Personal finance literacy.
(11) Computer science.
3 Education; School Money; Cost of an Opportunity for an Adequate Education. RSA 198:40-a, III is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
III. The sum total calculated under paragraph II shall be computed toward the cost of an adequate education, defined in RSA 193-E:2-a, including all differentiated aid. The department shall determine the cost of an adequate education, as defined in RSA 193-E:2-a, for each municipality based on the ADMR of pupils who reside in that municipality.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.