HB 1804

HB 1804 proposes a radical restructuring of NH's educational administration. Instead of 107 SAUs (School Administrative Units), the state would have just 12 — one per county, plus separate units for Manchester and Nashua. Professional superintendents would be eliminated and replaced by county-elected "chief school administrators."

The efficiency argument has surface appeal. NH's SAU system is fragmented, and some consolidation could save administrative costs. But going from 107 to 12 is a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed. A county-based SAU covering all of Carroll County, for example, would span from Conway to Wolfeboro to Tamworth — communities with very different needs, demographics, and educational priorities.

The bigger problem is making the chief administrator an elected position. Superintendents are professional educators with specialized training in school administration, finance, special education law, and curriculum development. Replacing them with politicians who win county elections would politicize every aspect of school administration — from hiring decisions to curriculum choices to discipline policies.

The committee sent this to interim study, recognizing it needed far more work. But the impulse behind it — centralizing control, eliminating professional administrators, and politicizing school leadership — will resurface.