Ms. Damon summarizes the case concisely.  And for those wanting to follow up on her advice, here are some questions our candidates should answer for voters.

Ms. Damon’s brief letter:

How about that Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut? Chris Sununu appointed him although he knew nothing about N.H. public education, not even from his personal experience.

He says public schools are failing. Not true. He wants vouchers paid from public school funds, but the vouchers help only the wealthy. Vouchers will cover a small portion of private education costs. Only wealthy people can make up the difference.

The commissioner is not a friend of public education. He is antagonistic to public education. Sununu made a poor choice. Voters should hold him accountable in November.

How about funding education so all N.H. kids have equal access to education? Our state constitution requires that public education be cherished. The state is required to fund an adequate education for each student. Yet the adequacy grants are ridiculously low. Four-thousand dollars to $6,000 per student doesn’t buy an adequate education. The average N.H. cost to educate a child (January 2017 info from the N.H. Department of Education) is $14,000 to $15,000. Some districts expend around $28,000 per pupil, some as little as $11,000. This spending pattern has everything to do with how property-rich the school district is. Kids’ education should not depend on where they live.

The legislators who are against true adequate funding of public education and who support vouchers need to be held accountable. Find out where your candidates stand. Vote them out if they do not support public education. And vote out the governor. He does not have the education of N.H. children at heart.

CLAUDIA DAMON

Concord

And an equally comprehensive on-line comment in response:

Public schools have to be phased out and replaced by private education. Public school teachers take students out of a class where they might learn something and instead have them march for some Socialist cause like banning guns. Public school boards push reckless spending and schedule school election at a time when no one votes. I support vouchers, private schools, school choice and charter schools as the answer to the problems with public schools.