NH: Let's Segregate Schools

There’s a mini-flap going on in New Hampshire now. Somebody leaked a Signal chat involving some GOP lawmakers and the Granite Post has published it. It includes some eyebrow raising posts (you can find the leaked chat here).

Kristin Noble indicates that “extra requirements” aren’t helping because “stopping woke mind virus stuff is good.” Then Katy Peternel asks if folks support the hunting bill, and Melissa Litchfield says she’s not supportive. “No, not the way schools are run right now. I do not want to risk kids being taught that guns are bad.” That exchange (which hasn’t been widely reported) sets up the exchange that has been reported.

Noble: when we have segregated schools we can add all the fun stuff lol (Peternel replied with a laugh emoji)

Noble: imagine the scores though if we had schools for them and some for us

Noble is the chair of the House education committee. Peternel is the vice chair. Noble is on her second term, and has backed a variety of legislation, including

HB1299- Says that discrimination is bad, but requiring trans students to be identified by their birth gender is not discrimination

HB360- Prohibits public schools from performing surgery or prescribing pharmaceutical drugs. Because that’s a thing that totally happens.

HB721- Establishes gold and silver as legal tender.

HB1050- Learning pods can’t be subject to zoning laws

HB1191- Parents must be notified of non-academic surveys in school

HB1268- Among other things, erases all testing requirements for homeschoolers

HB1792- Prohibiting the teaching of any “critical race theory and LGBTQ+ ideologies” as well as giving parents the right to sue over such teaching. Entitled the “Countering Hate And Revolutionary Leftist Indoctrination in Education Act” or the “CHARLIE Act”.

Noble gave up a career in security software to become a stay at home mom, and rounded up some parents to complain about school closures. Noble’s campaign got its largest contribution from Liberty Prosperity for NHP and also got a nice chunk from New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, a libertarian coalition that holds a Liberty Dinner every year where they name a Legislator of the Year; in 2025, Noble won that award. Speakers at the dinner have included 2008 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Mary Ruwart,[8] New Hampshire Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid,[9] New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner,[10] and former American Federation for Children senior fellow Corey DeAngelis.

When the leak broke and folks started accusing Noble of calling for racially segregated schools, you might think she would try to walk back or explain what she really meant, and she sort of did that-- focusing on defiance and offensiveness. Said the House GOP Office:

“It’s funny to watch the Democrats feign outrage when I thought they’d be supportive of managing their own schools, with libraries full of porn, biological males in girls sports and bathrooms, and as much DEI curriculum as their hearts desire,” the release read. “Schools like that will have terrible test scores because they focus on social justice rather than academics.”

“Republicans have been self-segregating out of the leftist indoctrination centers for decades,” the release continued. “If democrats had their own schools, and we had our own, families wouldn’t need to avail themselves of the wildly successful education freedom account program. It’s a win / win proposition.”

See, she just wants schools segregated by politics, because Democrats are out there stuffing the shelves of school libraries with porn and DEI while pretending to be offended by the idea of segregation when, I guess, everyone knows it’s no big deal?

I am mystified by the constant need to escalate. How hard would it have been for Noble to say, “Yeah, that was a bad choice of words. Racial segregation was bad and I certainly don’t support that.” Easy peasy.

Though I will grant you this-- Noble’s comments are a window on what seems to be the overarching goal of having two separate school systems. One for us, which is well funded, and one for them, which we’d rather not pay taxes to support. It would be a segregated system like the racially segregated schools of yesteryear, but instead of excluding just the children of the wrong race, let’s exclude everyone who disagrees with us.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire continues to shovel huge piles of taxpayer money into a voucher program that the legislature had to slip through in the dead of night, while continuing to refuse to honor the court order to fix the funding system for the public schools.

My grandmother was a GOP New Hampshire legislator for years. She would have some choice words for this stuff.