New Hampshire Educators and Students Threatened by the HB544 Bill
New Hampshire Educators and Students Threatened by the HB544 Bill
By Addison Hebert
This past year, New Hampshire is following the lead of southern state lawmakers by implementing a new standard for schools.
HB544, better known as the Divisive Concepts Bill, has created new conversations about what should be taught in school. These are the first three points of the controversial HB544 bill that is changing New Hampshire schools.
“Divisive concepts means the concepts that (1) one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; (2) the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist; (3) an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;...”
New Hampshire is the 10th state with the Divisive Concept Law enacted, and the only state in New England. The public is debating if this law was enforced to protect white students or students of color from uncomfortable conversations about sexism and racism in class.
Topics such as The Civil Rights Movement can be discussed, however, the law places the responsibility of making sure no one is uncomfortable on the teachers.
“I’ve had students’ parents calling me asking me to stop teaching about politics and threatening to sue…” says Ms. Brown, a Sociology teacher at North.
Ms. Brown has been a teacher at Nashua North High School for more than 10 years, and claims that it wasn’t until recently there have been issues about her class being “...too political.”
This law was enacted in June of 2021 by Governor Chris Sununu. There has been backlash from parents and teachers alike. Student Adrianna Sullivan recounts, “...History is supposed to make you uncomfortable, if you’re uncomfortable that's good. That means we as a society are growing. From my understanding, this law wants to discourage discussion about our past. That will only stunt our growth…” Adrianna has taken AP-level English and history classes from her freshman to senior year.
Many Republican lawmakers are concerned about “critical race theory” (CRT) being taught to students. This idea teaches that America is fundamentally racist and includes ideas like white privilege and systematic racism.
Republican Governor Chris Sununu stated at the press conference the day of the bill's passing, “...it would be appropriate to put up some guidance, training, things of that nature, possibly, in terms of what difference, so they know what expectations are.”
This question asked was regarding teachers needing to be retrained on how to teach history classes in order to be in accordance with the HB544 bill, which was in the budget he signed off on. Later, the question of if this will be required training for public employees was asked. He then stated, “... If people want to opt-out, yes…”
Almost two years later, there is still a ripple effect in New Hampshire following these new guidelines. Whether you are for or against, there is no denying that the education of New Hampshire’s residents changed.
