Open Enrollment: Parents Choose Any Public School

New Hampshire SB 101 rewrites the state's compulsory-attendance statute so that parents may choose any public school in the state for their children rather than being assigned one by geography. This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a direct, enforceable expansion of parental authority over one of the most consequential decisions a family makes.

The conviction underlying our support is straightforward: God entrusts the formation of children to parents, not to the state. Bureaucratic school assignment by zip code is a policy choice, not a natural law, and it has long served the interests of institutions over families. SB 101 dismantles that arrangement by redefining legal residency at the state level rather than the district level, closing the administrative loophole that has historically made choice difficult to exercise in practice.

The bill does include a second provision creating a limited exemption from the parental-consent requirement for state-required assessments and certain public school events. This modestly qualifies an existing parental-rights protection. We note this trade-off clearly and encourage families and advocates to monitor how that exemption is applied during implementation.

On balance, the core effect of SB 101 is a meaningful and concrete expansion of public-school choice for every family in New Hampshire. Parents in lower-income communities who cannot afford private alternatives gain the same ability to seek a better educational fit that wealthier families have always had through residential mobility. That equity of access matters.

The bill has passed one chamber. We urge its full passage into law and call on New Hampshire legislators to recognize that supporting family empowerment within the public system is not an attack on public education. It is a demand that public education serve children and families rather than administrative convenience.