Heather Robitaille for Merrimack Schools

04/29/2026

School may not be in session, but public education advocacy never takes a break! Yesterday was a beautiful day to meet with organizers and legislators that support strong public schools

04/23/2026

Great news from the NH House today regarding the defeat of the Open Enrollment bill (SB101). I’m proud to be one of the many Granite Staters who testified against this bill and appreciate everyone who took the time to call, write or show up in person to defend NH public schools.

The NH House defeated SB 101 (open enrollment) on a bipartisan vote of 168-184. Thank you to NH legislators who stood with public school students across our state.

04/14/2026

Merrimack friends, don’t forget to vote today! Polls are open until 7pm so make sure your voice is heard!

Need to find your polling location? Follow this link to the Secretary of State website to look it up:

https://app.sos.nh.gov/pollingplacesampleballot

03/28/2026

I’m proud to have my testimony from early this week quoted by NEA-New Hampshire and IndepthNH. Thank you to everyone who testified in opposition to SB101! The second part of the hearing will be held this Wednesday at 10am

A revamped school open enrollment bill presented Wednesday would have the state pay for the program and not the student’s resident school district.

03/26/2026

Yet another bill that fails to address public school funding in NH and leaves countless questions unanswered. I was in Concord today to testify in opposition to this bill along with many other Granite Staters. In fact, so many people showed up in opposition to this bill that a second hearing is being held! You can still testify online until 11:59pm tonight or make your voice heard at next week’s hearing at 10 AM next Wednesday, April 1st: Open Enrollment hearing part 2‼️

03/13/2026

In Concord this morning to testify against these two bills. It’s not too late to put in your online testimony too!

If HB 1815 and SB 659 don’t lower property taxes, strengthen schools, or increase funding… what problem are they solving? These bills would rewrite state law to make education funding a vague “shared responsibility” without defining what the state must contribute. HB 1815 passed the House this week and is already being fast tracked through the Senate, potentially reaching the Governor’s desk in the coming weeks.
📅 Senate Education Finance public hearing: Friday, March 13th at 9 AM.
👉 Use our tool and tell your Senator to oppose: https://secure.everyaction.com/Nn1Nb2n6L02UySjXw3CddQ2

03/06/2026

Thank you to everyone who showed up last night in support of our students, staff and public education!!

The message last night was clear, there are deep concerns about budget cuts our district has been forced to make as well as concerns about the increasing property tax burden. This isn’t unique to Merrimack, it’s being felt in districts across the state. NH needs to address how it funds public education because the current system is unconstitutional and is hurting our children and taxpayers alike.

Please don’t let your action stop here- vote on April 14th and contact our state legislators to ask them to address public education funding, then hold them accountable for their votes. Our children deserve better and Granite Staters deserve better.

If you missed last night’s School District Deliberative Session, you can watch it on Merrimack TV, thanks to our amazing team who covers everything happening in Merrimack.

04/09/2025

Before the results come in, I just want to thank everyone for their support! I could not be prouder to run with such an amazing, nonpartisan group of public education supporters. Thank you to everyone who voted today and stopped by to ask questions and share their thoughts. Regardless of tonight’s results, I will continue to advocate for public education both here in Merrimack and at the State House in Concord. 💙

03/27/2025

Expanding Education Freedom Account (EFA) eligibility does nothing to help solve NH’s public education funding problems. In fact, this bill will increase the burden property tax owners face while giving handouts to even the wealthiest families.

I went to Concord to oppose HB115 which would remove income limits for families seeking EFA vouchers. One woman testifying in favor of removing the income cap, stated she thought EFAs were great because it helped pay for her daughter’s gymnastics!

With so many Granite Staters struggling just to make ends meet, we should not be expanding handouts to wealthy families to use for private religious schools and recreational activities. I highly encourage everyone to reach out to their elected officials and hold them accountable for their votes.

🚨 Today, the New Hampshire Senate voted on party lines in support of SB 295, which would eliminate eligibility requirements for the state’s unaccountable private school voucher program and institute a universal voucher scheme that would divert millions of public dollars from public schools to subsidize private education for wealthy families.

Read the full statement from NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle here: https://neanh.org/2025/03/27/press-release-nh-senate-republicans-vote-to-take-public-dollars-away-from-public-schools/

01/16/2025

NH Friends: for those who care about public education and property taxes, please know that our NH Legislature is voting on Universal Education Vouchers today, January 16th. This means your tax dollars that are (and for generations have been) used to fund our public schools can be diverted to families to use for private schools and catholic schools, amongst others.. This is already happening and you can see the impact this has on tax bills, because tax payers have to make up that difference because we still have to pay for public schools.
Thursday’s vote will expand the qualifications leading to millions more in tax dollars being diverted from paying for public schools (the reason those taxes are collected in the first place.) This will cause your tax bills to be even higher- even if your school district's budget remained the same.

Please tell the state that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Public schools MATTER and the taxes collected to fund the schools in our communities need to be used ONLY for that purpose. (For example, you can’t ask the state to have public works tax dollars to pave or plow your own driveway…..because those dollars are for the roads in our community. Schools are NO DIFFERENT.)

I will be at the State House today to voice my opposition to this bill, but you can still take action from home:
1. Sign into the House Remote Testimony tool to voice your opinion
https://gencourt.state.nh.us/.../remotetesti.../default.aspx
2. Enter your personal information.
3. Select:
✅ Thursday, January 16th on the calendar
✅ House Education Funding
✅ 1:00 pm - HB115
✅ I am a member of the public.
✅ I am representing myself.
4. Click: "I oppose this bill", then hit the submit button at the bottom of the form.
Adding remote testimony is suggested. It will help make your case.
The STATE is failing to meet its obligation and it is time that we demand they raise our ranking as the state with the LOWEST state funding for education IN THE NATION. (Yep. We rank 50th: https://nhfpi.org/.../new-hampshire-ranks-last-in-the-u.../)
The General Court of New Hampshire | 404
gencourt.state.nh.us
The General Court of New Hampshire | 404