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When the New Hampshire Board of Education (BOE) first voted to approve the use of PragerU’s financial literacy course, the decision was met with protests and political drama.

Teachers unions and Democratic politicians teed off on PragerU, the BOE, and Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, denouncing PragerU’s content as “right-wing” extremism designed to destroy public education. 

“I am appalled by today’s Board of Education decision to allow PragerU to operate in New Hampshire,” Democratic candidate for governor Joyce Craig said at the time. “I will fight for every child in our state to receive a quality education, and I will never allow an extreme right-wing organization to influence their learning.”

But a year later, the Board of Education voted with little fanfare Monday to renew its approval for the conservative nonprofit’s financial literacy course, called “Cash Course,” for the next five years. The politicians and protesters who insisted the course would undermine New Hampshire’s public education were a no-show for Monday’s vote.

The half-credit course will continue to be part of the state’s approved Learn Everywhere offerings. 

“It’s a strong program, I just wish there was more to it,” Board of Education chair Drew Cline said. He urged the board to give just a quarter-credit to students who complete the course.

Learn Everywhere is a program unique to New Hampshire that allows students to earn credit for learning outside the classroom. That can include music classes, martial arts programs, and robotics clubs. Each Learn Everywhere offering must first get state approval before students can start earning credits.

Cash Course is a personal financial literacy program for teens taught through a series of web videos and worksheets. PragerU’s Dzana Homan told the board the handful of students who have taken the class, and their families, are positive about what they learned.

“We are getting fantastic reviews from students who are completing the program,” Homan said.

Critics of the Cash Course content have largely ignored the specifics, instead focusing on the source — conservative content provider PragerU, founded by writer and radio talk host Dennis Prager. PragerU bills itself as “the world’s leading conservative nonprofit that is focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.”

But the Cash House program steers clear from any culture-war hot buttons and sticks to teaching teens the basics of bank accounts, paychecks, loans, and investments.

The Learn Everywhere program is of a piece with the state’s Education Freedom Accounts, which are designed to give parents and students more choice and flexibility. They reflect the philosophy of Edelblut, a free market advocate who supports parental rights. Craig, who opposes the EFA program and parents-rights legislation, has already pledged to replace Edelblut if elected governor.

Facing accusations of mismanagement and a potential conflict of interest, representatives for the Lionheart Classical Academy met with the state Board of Education behind closed doors on Monday.

Lionheart’s board of trustees representatives asked Board Chair Drew Cline for the non-public meeting to protect the reputations of the people discussed. The minutes for the hour-plus non-public meeting were immediately sealed, but it is likely the topic of discussion was the two letters sent to the BOE laying out concerns about the future of the charter school located in Peterborough.

Founder and major donor Fred Ward alerted the BOE last week about an alleged conflict of interest connected to the Sharon Road building the school leases for more than $24,000 a month.

According to Ward’s letter, written by attorney Richard Lehmann, former Lionheart Trustee Barry Tanner failed to disclose his business relationship with landlord Ophir Sternberg when he negotiated the lease and the naming rights.

Lionheart Academy takes its name from Sternberg’s Lionheart Capital. The $1 million donation Sternberg agreed to make in exchange for the naming rights has largely evaporated, according to Ward.

Lionheart parent Kevin Brace sent a letter to the BOE Monday morning with his worries, including the fact the trustees seem to have lost their conflict of interest statements.

“At the Sept. 12, 2024 LCA Board of Trustees Meeting, the board announced that it had lost the Conflict of Interest forms that the board signed at the May 2024 Board of Trustees meeting. It should be noted that Barry Tanner was the Chairman at the time of that meeting, and his disclosure is now missing. It should be noted that I requested these forms under Right to Know and the board never notified me that the documents were missing. In light of the allegations in Dr. Fred Ward’s correspondence to The New Hampshire State Board of Education, the fact that these documents are now missing is extremely alarming,” Brace wrote.

It is standard practice for boards to have members sign a statement acknowledging they understand the conflict of interest policy, or law, that applies to their institution.

Contacted by NHJournal, Tanner declined to discuss his business with Sternberg. According to Ward, Tanner and Sternberg sought to buy the historic Hancock Inn together around the 2021 time frame when the lease and naming deals were negotiated.

Brace, a former corrections officer with a background as a civilian police commissioner, started going to board meetings this summer after Executive Director Kerry Bedard was fired. He said he was shocked to find out what had been happening.

“As the parent of a child attending Lionheart, I could not sit back and watch an out-of-control board who allowed a landlord to overcharge for rent, accepted junk stock, and refuse to follow state law,” Brace told NHJournal.

Brace’s letter to the BOE raises several questions about the management of the board, including the concern the board is meeting illegally outside of posted meetings. Charter schools are legally public, and the boards are required to follow the same open meeting and public records laws as public school boards.

“On July 26th 2024, LCA Board of Trustees Chairwoman [Kimberly Lavallee] admitted to Commissioner [Frank] Edelblut, [Right to Know] Ombudsman Thomas Kehr, and I in an email that the LCA Board of Trustees had a meeting and took action that was never noticed to the public,” Brace wrote.

Brace also claims board members use a messaging app to conduct board business.

“I was notified by a parent that some LCA Board members were on an app called ‘Band,’ and that they were acting in their official capacity as board members. I requested a copy of those conversations, and the board did not turn them over to me,” Brace wrote.

One of the major concerns Ward raised in his letter, Lionheart’s financial stability, seems to be addressed thanks to a generous, anonymous donor. Hours after Ward sent his letter to the BOE last week, Lionheart announced it was getting a $5 million endowment from an unnamed individual. 

But Brace is worried the current board is not up to the task of managing a gift of that size.

“Given the LCA Board of Trustees track record of handling large donations, I believe the State Board of Education should examine this donation,” Brace wrote.

Sternberg agreed to give Lionheart $1 million in cash through regular $100,000 installments in exchange for the naming rights, according to Ward. However, after one payment was made, Sternberg’s donation was changed to a gift of stock in his investment company, according to Ward’s letter. The school was locked out from accessing that stock for about a year. By the time it was available to cash out, Lionheart’s stock was worthless, Ward states.

Both Ward and Brace are worried the school is stuck with a lease agreement that requires them to pay for upgrades to the building without a written stipulation they can buy the property at any point. Braces blames poor board oversight for this predicament.

“They were supposed to be working for the school, not the landlord,” Brace said.

It’s not clear yet if the BOE will take any action on the Ward and Brace letters. Brace told NHJournal he simply wants to make sure the school can continue educating students like his daughter.

“All I am asking for is for the State BOE to provide some much-needed oversight. I do not want the school to fail. It’s hard for me as a parent to trust that this current board is really doing the right thing, especially given their recent history of turning a blind eye and telling everyone that things are great,” Brace said.

New Hampshire families can now choose a new financial literacy course from PragerU through the state’s Learn Everywhere program, and New Hampshire Democrats have a new hobby horse to ride into campaign season.

That was the result after three hours of a contentious State Board of Education meeting on Thursday, where Democrats, progressives, and union activists packed the room to denounce PragerU and its “right-wing” politics.

“This approval disregards the potential harm PragerU’s extreme content will inflict on our schools and the education of our children,” said Democratic Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, who is seeking her party’s nomination for governor next year.

At issue is a video course on personal finances and financial literacy called “Cash Course,” and produced by PragerU, a conservative content business. The state Board of Education has been considering making the course, which contains no political or controversial content, part of the content eligible to complete course requirements for students in the Learn Everywhere program.

Learn Everywhere, an innovative education program unique to New Hampshire, allows students to earn credit for learning outside the classroom. The program, which has been under development since 2018, was first approved in August 2020 in a 4-3 vote.

The State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday, with Chair Drew Cline’s abstention, to approve the PragerU content as a half-credit course. The class is offered for free for any student who chooses to take it.

The approval comes despite heavy, organized opposition from progressives and teachers unions against PragerU.

Their opposition is not based on the content itself but rather on the provider. Many of the people who spoke in opposition Thursday did not appear to have seen the Cash Course content under consideration.

“I am appalled by today’s Board of Education decision to allow PragerU to operate in New Hampshire. I will fight for every child in our state to receive a quality education, and I will never allow an extreme right-wing organization to influence their learning,” Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig said.

Craig is also running for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Warmington has been using the PragerU issue to campaign and fundraise for weeks, attacking “their extremist views.” Warmington declined to respond when asked to identify what “extremist views” were in the personal finance content under consideration by the Board of Education.

Warmington suffered a political faceplant early this week with an unfounded complaint that PragerU was falsely presenting itself as an actual university and potentially violating New Hampshire state law. Attorney General John F0rmella dismissed Warmington’s complaint, noting the website explicitly announces PragerU is not a university and that the law Warmington cited only applies to entities incorporated in New Hampshire. It was embarrassing for a career attorney who spent two decades at the Sheehan & Gordon law firm.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation about Learn Everywhere and this course,” Cline said during Thursday’s board meeting.

PragerU is not partnering with the state, getting a state contract, or being paid any taxpayer money, Cline said. Further, the PragerU class is not required for any New Hampshire student. Additionally, PragerU plans to offer its class on a website independent of the wider PragerU offerings.

The association with the conservative media personality Dennis Prager is the major red flag for the Cash Course opponents. Dozens of people who were against PragerU’s application spoke Thursday, accusing the conservative non-profit of pushing an extremist agenda and even likening it to the Ku Klux Klan.

Supporters say that while PragerU is unapologetically conservative in its philosophy, it is far from being an extremist organization. And they note that many of the union members and progressives who say its politics are “too extreme” have supported far-left “critical race theory” content from racists like Ibram X. Kendi in New Hampshire’s K-12 classrooms.

Board Member Richard Sala said the board had approved several Learn Everywhere options and charter schools with decidedly left-wing ideologies. He said the board is not trying to push an agenda other than giving all parents the most choices for their children.

“I trust parents to make good calls for their kids more than I trust the government to,” Sala said.

Sala noted that while PragerU is a conservative, so are at least half the families in New Hampshire.

“A lot of PragerU material is mainstream political thought in this country,” Sala said. “You can’t censor half the ideas in this country.”

It wasn’t all about fears children were being indoctrinated into the Republican Party. Deb Howes, head of the New Hampshire American Federal of Teachers, the state’s second biggest teachers union, claimed that allowing students to take the Cash Course class for a half credit would lower the state’s education standards.

“Watching a video and doing a worksheet doesn’t help you remember it when it counts,” Howe said.

Cline said PragerU’s Cash Course class covers a little more material than another financial literacy program already approved for Learn Everywhere. That program did not receive any public opposition when it was approved.

Board Member Ryan Terrell said the opposition to PragerU is ruled by a bias against all conservatives, which assumes any Republican is a homophobic racist.

“You say you want open dialogue and then attack a whole swath of people’s ideals,” Tyrell said.

The opponents revealed they are ultimately against New Hampshire families having real choices when it comes to educating their children, Tyrell said.

“The overall message was anti-choice. It’s simply that black and white,” Terrell said.

Don’t worry, Ronald McDonald: “Hamburger University” is safe from Cinde Warmington — for now.

It’s no surprise that Executive Councilor Warmington, a progressive Democrat seeking her party’s nomination for governor, isn’t a fan of PragerU. Founded by conservative radio talk host Dennis Prager, PragerU generates short, educational videos on a variety of topics — some overtly political, others basic life skills.

The PragerU content under consideration by the state Board of Education consists of several short videos and coursework covering lessons on basic personal finances, from how paychecks work, how checking and savings accounts work, how to get a loan, and how to invest for retirement. 

What PragerU doesn’t do — and has never claimed to do — is hand out college diplomas. There is literally a message on its website that reads, “No, PragerU is not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We do not offer degrees. However, we are the most accessible and influential online resource for explaining the concepts that have made America great.”

But that didn’t stop Warmington from demanding an Attorney General investigation into PragerU, claiming it is attempting to defraud people fooled by the “U.” You know, like those tricky people who run ESPNU (your cable TV home for college sports!).

And, she claimed, she’d found a New Hampshire law the education nonprofit was violating by calling itself PragerU.

Unfortunately for Warmington, the law she cited applies to businesses incorporated in New Hampshire (PragerU is not) that are using terms like “college” or “university” in ways “tending to designate that it is an institution of higher learning” (it’s not), or somehow “invoke the consumer protection rationale” (as the AG put it) of the statute.

By the way, Warmington is a lawyer. Maybe she’s angry because she got hoodwinked by the Jethro Bodine School for Lawyerin’?

As the Attorney General’s office said in a statement Monday: “After reviewing the statute, the AGO does not read RSA 292:8-g to require nondomestic entities that merely have a presence in New Hampshire through the existence of a website to incorporate under the provisions of RSA 292:8.”

In other words, Councilor Warmington literally didn’t know what she was talking about when she demanded the investigation.

Which, by the way, is great news for College Motors and University Donuts — not to mention the Electoral College which, coincidentally, many progressives would like to shut down as well.

There is a strong case to be made that pursuing content from PragerU is a political miscalculation by Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut and the state Board of Education. Given the current state of the media, it’s hardly a surprise that leftwing outlets were willing to pile on with Warmington’s uninformed complaints, taking them seriously. PragerU is an openly conservative content provider. In the current political climate “conservative” and “controversial” are synonyms, regardless of the facts.

Is it true that the same people attacking PragerU’s completely non-political lessons on personal finance also embrace the blatant racism of Ibram X. Kendi for public school classrooms? Yes. Is it true that media outlets who knew — or should have known — this was a ridiculous ploy by Warmington played along and pretended it was legit? Of course they did.

But those are the political realities of the moment.

Hilariously, Warmington stuck with her bogus claims in response to the AG’s dismissal of her complaint.

“I’m disappointed with the Attorney General’s failure to protect the public from Prager University’s [sic] clearly misleading name,” Warmington said, intentionally misleading voters by using a fake name for “PragerU.”

Warmington is a smart enough political operative to seize an issue like this, real or imagined, and use it for political gain. But why did she make ridiculous, fact-free claims about fraud and breaking the law? Isn’t “I oppose all content to the right of MSNBC” enough?

Did Warmington, an attorney, simply not understand the law she was citing? Or did she understand but, in the cause of political opportunism, simply not care? Either way, Granite Staters have learned something about what kind of governor Warmington would be.

And they didn’t need a college degree to figure it out.

New Hampshire’s political social media was abuzz Wednesday over word the state Board of Education was considering approving a video series from the conservative nonprofit PragerU for the Learn Everywhere program.

Granite State Democrats were in high dudgeon, filling Twitter with accusations of hate and homophobia. House Democratic Caucus Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester) warned PragerU content depicts cartoons “that suggest slavery was ‘no big deal,’” and “peddle anti-LGBTQ+ hate.”

It was an odd accusation, given the video series in question is about personal finances and balancing your checkbook.

The PragerU course under consideration (which can be viewed here) is called “Cash Course” and covers the basics of financial literacy, from how paychecks work, to getting a bank loan, to how to invest for retirement. The videos viewed by NHJournal do not discuss politics or present information with a political slant, and there was no mention of either slavery or sexuality.

“It’s disingenuous of the Democrats not to look at the actual material before making a judgment,” Frank Edelblut, New Hampshire’s Education Commissioner, said of the controversy.

PragerU, started by talk radio personality Dennis Prager, seeks to add its online financial literacy course to the state’s Learn Everywhere offerings. Learn Everywhere allows students to earn high school credits for skills and knowledge attained outside the classroom through optional undertakings.

In the wake of New Hampshire Democrats’ coordinated complaints, State Board of Education chair Drew Cline said he has heard from people upset about the state using PragerU content. But he has not heard from anyone who has looked at the materials and videos.

“The fear-mongering being done about this is unfortunate because these financial literacy videos are quite useful and entirely apolitical and provide students with quite valuable knowledge of how to manage their finances,” Cline said.

The videos offer straightforward lessons about basic money handling, free from political ideology or any of the hot-button culture war topics sometimes associated with Prager. That hasn’t stopped leading Democrats from blasting the state for even considering PragerU for Learn Everywhere, though none of them appear to have viewed the actual content.

“PragerU does not reflect New Hampshire values, and I’m appalled this organization has been put forward to work with NH students,” said Democratic candidate for governor Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig. “As governor, I’ll work with New Hampshire educators to strengthen public schools so every student receives a quality education.” 

Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington (D-District 2), who is running against Craig in the Democratic primary, said adding PragerU to the Learn Everywhere program would harm democracy.

“Pushing PragerU’s radical, political bias into our education system is yet another attempt by Edelblut to intentionally undermine the bedrock of our democracy. As governor, I’ll fight to strengthen our public schools so all NH children have the opportunity to succeed & thrive,” Warmington said.

NHJournal asked Rep. Wilhelm where in the PragerU series slavery is referred to as ‘no big deal’ as he claims. The top House Democrat declined to respond.

Cline and Edelblut argue the critics haven’t reviewed the material in question and don’t understand how Learn Everywhere works. 

“The important thing for people to realize, contrary to some irresponsible reporting this week, PragerU is not up for approval. The financial literacy course created by PragerU is up for approval,” Cline said.

Conservatives point to a double standard from Democrats in the area of academics, such as their support for racist classroom material in New Hampshire classrooms from author Ibram X. Kendi, who teaches White students are inherently bigoted due to their skin color.

“We have approved charter schools with strong left-of-center perspectives, we’ve approved schools with strong DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) components, and no one complained about that. We’re not trying to impose a political view on students; we’re trying to create options for students,” Cline said.

Learn Everywhere gives New Hampshire families more options for educational opportunities by allowing students to earn high school credits from approved programs at no cost to New Hampshire taxpayers. The Learn Everywhere classes are entirely optional and are meant to encourage students to learn outside the classroom.

Financial literacy is a valuable skill that many children are not learning at home. That puts them behind when they enter the working world or when they try to navigate decisions like taking out student loans.

“I wish somebody had taught me that in high school,” Cline said. “Not every kid has people in their family who can teach them basics about how to manage their finances.”

Learn Everywhere includes robotics courses, science classes, karate classes, music classes, and even after-school programs at High Brothers and Big Sisters venues.

“We think it’s important that our students learn,” Edelblut said. “Different students are going to connect in different ways.”

If the course is approved, students who opt for the PragerU financial literacy class would get a half credit, meaning they would still need to take another financial literacy class in order to get the whole credit.

Cline understands people who are turned off by Prager’s political views would be concerned about the course. That is why he encourages everyone to look at the videos online, which are posted for free. 

“There is nothing in this proposal that is political at all,” Cline said.

The State Board of Education will take up PrageU’s application on Thursday.

New Hampshire’s largest teachers union blasted the State Board of Education for voting to tightly limit the use of remote learning by Granite State public schools.

Under the rule changes finalized by the board Thursday, schools can only use remote learning for weather events such as snowstorms, and when parents request the online-learning option. Since the beginning of the pandemic, local school districts have locked down classrooms for months at a time, despite evidence showing that has a drastically negative impact on children. In some communities, parents organized protests in response.

On Thursday, the Board of Education made it clear whose side it is on.

“Parents have to have some say in the matter,” said board chairman Drew Cline.

Cline said the rule changes still leave school districts with the flexibility to adopt remote learning as needed in specific instances, but the state won’t be returning to months of at-home education for entire school districts. Cline said remote learning during the 2020-2021 school year was disastrous for public schools.

“We had more than 8,000 students leave the public school system in New Hampshire in 2020, and most of them didn’t come back,” Cline said. “One of the main reasons is [families] didn’t want remote instruction imposed upon them, they didn’t like that they had no options and no say.”

Megan Tuttle, president of the NEA-New Hampshire, the state’s largest teachers union, was quick to blast the decision. Tuttle accused the board and Department of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut of disregarding the health and safety of students and teachers.

“While educators, parents, and healthcare professionals are focused on keeping our children and families healthy and safe, Commissioner Edelblut and the State Board of Education are focused on penalizing school districts for making the difficult decision to temporarily switch to remote instruction during a communitywide outbreak,” Tuttle said in a statement.

Cline noted schools are free to close classrooms if they feel the need. But instead of simply moving classes to “Zoom school,” as some parents call it, schools will have to make up the days in classroom instruction later in the year.

Educators agree New Hampshire students lost ground across the board due to the effects of online learning.

In Manchester, Superintendent Jonathan Goldhardt told the city’s board of education this week that thousands of his students are now getting failing grades.

“The number of students getting at least one F grade went up dramatically during the mostly remote and hybrid 2020-2021 school year,” Goldhardt told board members, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Test results tell the same story.

Proficiency for ELA at the third-grade level was 44 percent in 2021, compared to 55 percent in 2018 and 52 percent in 2019. Math proficiency at the third-grade level was 45 percent in 2021, compared to 55 percent in both 2017 and 2018, and 57 percent in 2019. 

Eighth-grade proficiency for ELA was 49 percent in 2021, compared to 62 percent in 2016, 58 percent in both 2017 and 2018, and 53 percent in 2019. Proficiency for math at the eighth-grade level was 33 percent in 2021, compared to 47 percent in 2016, 46 percent in 2017, 47 percent in 2018, and 45 percent in 2019. 

Cline said the board listened to unions and others opposed to the rule changes, but those in opposition never presented an alternative plan. Ultimately, the changes were about listening to parents and keeping students in schools, he said.

“We’re moving forward with this rule to give parents real-time buy-in and opt-in,” Cline said. “We want to make sure public schools are listening to the parents because we don’t want a repeat of 2020 where we lose another 8,000 kids.”