By Line search: By WAYNE GERSEN
By WAYNE GERSEN
It was distressing, but not surprising, to read that the New Hampshire Legislature is considering an increase in funding for Education Freedom Accounts by raising the eligibility ceiling to $150,000 per year for families of four who want to secure...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Last week’s Valley News editorial asked whether Vermont is ready to overhaul its education system. Now that Gov. Phil Scott has presented his Education Transformation Proposal we have an answer — No.
By WAYNE GERSEN
For much of the 20th century, social studies textbooks proudly declared that the United States was a melting pot or a mosaic of immigrants. These books almost always included a picture of the Statue of Liberty and the words of Emma Lazarus’ poem engraved on its base: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
By WAYNE GERSEN
Lebanon officials have warned residents that a series of tax increases will be needed to retain their current services (“First in wave of tax hikes loom”; Nov. 23). Citing employee contracts, debt payments and the need to replenish the city’s...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Even though it was hardly mentioned in the campaigns that ended last Tuesday, public education was on the ballot. It lost. With the Republicans in complete control in Washington and Concord, community-based public schools serving all children may...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Last week, NHPR reporter Josh Rogers flagged four “major issues” defining the governor’s race, each of which was based on the other candidate’s shortcomings. Craig’s campaign has focused on Ayotte’s waffling on abortion rights and her lucrative...
By WAYNE GERSEN
New Hampshire’s Governorship is one of the few competitive elections in the nation. The campaigns of former GOP senator and state attorney general Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Joyce Craig, former mayor of Manchester, are flooding the airwaves and our...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Both Presidential candidates and numerous gubernatorial candidates have made “affordable housing” a hot button issue in 2024. I put “affordable housing” in quotes because the definition of “affordable housing” and who would qualify for it is unclear....
By WAYNE GERSEN
I was interested to read in Tuesday’s Valley News about how Republican legislators will help New Hampshire school districts find the money needed to provide teachers with ample pay. Ethan DeWitt’s article from the New Hampshire Bulletin describes a...
By WAYNE GERSEN
One of the prevalent catch phrases for the 2024 election is “Democracy is on the ballot” and as the election nears, it seems far from certain that democracy will prevail. After a long career in public education, I understand why voters might be...
By WAYNE GERSEN
My wife and I spent four of the past six weeks on the road in the west on two road trips that covered 3,700 miles. Our travels, which took us from Phoenix to the Pacific Northwest, helped us appreciate the vastness and emptiness of almost all of the...
By WAYNE GERSEN
As a retired public-school administrator I have tremendous empathy for Dartmouth College President Sian Beilock. Throughout my career I faced many contentious and complex decisions that I knew would be popular with some constituent groups but...
By WAYNE GERSEN
As April 15 approaches, many of us are preparing to pay our taxes. On some level, all voters realize that taxes help underwrite government services they value, that they are “the price we pay for a civilized society.” However, unlike our monthly...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Two recent Valley News’ editorials focused on what it called Vermont’s “education funding mess.” Vermont’s education funding is a mess, but a mess that is hardly unique to Vermont. It is not unlike New Hampshire’s “education funding mess” or the...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Monday’s Valley News featured two articles describing gun control legislation under consideration this year in New Hampshire. As part of the majority of voters who seek stricter gun control, I am frustrated and bewildered by the incremental approach...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Did you realize that New Hampshire is experiencing a border crisis? Neither did I, and neither did a sizable majority of my fellow New Hampshire residents. A recent survey reported in the Boston Globe, indicated that 44% of us were “not at all...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Despite my efforts to squelch unwelcome correspondence from Ron DeSantis’ campaign, I continue to receive his glossy mailers. One side of his latest missive boasts that unlike his predecessors, Ron DeSantis would be willing to pull the trigger on...
By WAYNE GERSEN
This just in: Climate change is not a hoax! As I was this essay, the lead story on my phone’s news feed was “Hurricane Lee forecast to become strongest Atlantic storm so far this year.” Thursday’s Valley News featured a front-page picture of Judy...
By WAYNE GERSEN
As one of the 46% of Americans who have a family member or friend who struggles with chemical dependency, I view the reporting on Hunter Biden’s misdeeds as a missed opportunity to educate the half of the country who does not view addiction as a...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Here’s a thought experiment. What if, after Roe v. Wade was decided, humanity decided that additional research on birth control was too contentious to explore. In such a world, Roe v. Wade would be the final word on the question of when life began...
By WAYNE GERSEN
Yesterday afternoon I read The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two of History’s Biggest Mistakes, an article about Thomas Midgley, Jr. that will appear in this weekend’s NYTimes Magazine. Written by Steven Johnson, the article offers a history of...
By using this site, you agree with our use of cookies to personalize your experience, measure ads and monitor how our site works to improve it for our users
Copyright © 2016 to 2025 by Valley News. All rights reserved.