Jay Kahn Receives Two Big Education Endorsements

Jay Kahn, Democratic candidate for the New Hampshire State Senate in District 10, is a higher education administrative professional for 43 years, 28 of them spent in the Monadnock region at Keene State College.  For that reason, he feels extra proud to announce his candidacy has earned the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire (AFT-NH) and the recommendation of the National Education Association of New Hampshire (NEA-NH). The American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire is the largest affiliate of NH AFL-CIO and represents a broad cross-section of teachers, paraprofessionals, police, public employees, and higher education faculty.  Like AFT on the national level, AFT-NH champions “fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities.”

According to AFT-NH President Douglas Ley, Jay Kahn is the strongest candidate in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 10.  “Jay Kahn is the candidate best poised to carry forward the work of retiring Senator Molly Kelly, continuing her tradition of firm advocacy for working people and working families in New Hampshire.”

NEA-New Hampshire, the state’s largest public sector union, announced their recommendation of Jay Kahn for Senate District 10 today. A recommendation is the fullest and most complete level of support NEA-NH can give a candidate.

“I am honored to earn the recommendation of NEA-NH for the state senate seat in District 10.  Over my 43 years in higher education, I have dedicated myself to working with faculty and staff to transform the lives of students.  Now I pledge to stand together with NEA and businesses across the state to fortify the pipeline of qualified students into our NH workforce,” said Kahn.  “Retaining high school and college graduates in the state is crucial to our workforce and economic goals.  This includes retaining and attracting teachers and support staff, and giving them the support needed to inspire students and develop creative approaches to teaching and learning.” 

“We know Jay is looking out for students and families from his focus on creating more paid internships to encourage students to stay in NH, and a public higher education tuition freeze for two years, so prospective students can better budget,” said Scott McGilvray, NEA-NH President. 

**Originally posted on NHLabornews.com, 8/22/16.

Save the Children Action Network Questionnaire

Save the Children Action Network Questionnaire

August 2016

Q:  What role should state government play in improving the lives of children in New Hampshire aged 5 and younger?

A:  Supporting family and medical leave programs, setting a state minimum wage; authorizing greater access to early childhood education programs; assuring assessment of children in 0-3 years—health and dietary wellness, physical and cognitive abilities; implementing recommendations of Spark-NH, the Governor’s task force on early child care. Q:  Tell us about your experience with early learning programs.  Is there something from your personal life or public record that demonstrates your belief in and commitment to early childhood education?

A:  I served on Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Board for 6 yrs. and led establishing regional CASA in Keene to support abused and neglected children in and recruit CASA's for Cheshire and Sullivan Cos.  Helped Keene State College Education programs establish after-school programs in Winchester and Marlborough Schools.  I was awarded honorary membership in Kappa Delta Pi education honors society.  I am an advocate for Impact Monadnock and a Reading Day volunteer.  My parents were immigrants and I needed language development services and received those after entering kindergarten.

Q:  During your campaign for senator, will you express support for state funding of early childhood education?  If so, please list three points that will be part of your early childhood education platform or messaging.

A:  Yes.  Family education programs on improving children's cognitive and social growth are needed to reduce differentials in child development; extending Medicaid Expansion which is helping screen children for learning and physical disabilities, and language and speech impairments; articulating pre-school and kindergarten programs so children are prepared equitably for school.  Supporting B-Corps (Benefit Corporations that are socially responsible) to set an example for family friendly workplaces.  These are low hanging fruit that can be easily implemented.

Q:  As State Senator, will you support expanding quality pre-K programs in New Hampshire? If yes, will you support funding and relevant amendments to the state budget during the 2017 legislative session that will enable the expansion of quality pre-K programs?

A:  I probably would.  My career as a higher education chief financial officer has taught me to be cautious about over-committing resources when revenues are insufficient.  We have a revenue problem in NH state government and that also needs to be addressed so we can provide incentives for pre-K programs. Q:  During the 2016 legislative session Save the Children Action Network worked with a bipartisan group of legislators to introduce Senate Bill 503, relative to funding pre-kindergarten education using Pay for Success financing. This innovative finance method enables private groups to provide the upfront investment to pre-kindergarten programs. The investors are only paid back from the savings to the state if the programs they fund achieve predetermined standards. If elected, will you vote in support of programs like Pay for Success to fund expanding quality pre-K in New Hampshire? Why or why not?

A:  I would probably support such a program because it opens a door to the State’s support of early childhood education.  However, I am skeptical of its effectiveness.  The bill recommends a  Commission that would have to develop a compelling set of guidelines for private investment, such as the value to the state of better educated 3rd graders. The bureaucracy of having each school’s contract authorized by the Executive Council is probably necessary, but adds risk to the investors.  Availability of funds is difficult to determine when funds are not set aside in advance and savings could be absorbed into other underfunded programs, such as special education reimbursement rate increases, new charter school payments and full-day kindergarten.  I am concerned about private investment turning into a reduction in business profits taxes.

Q:  In your own words, please tell us why high quality publicly funded early childhood education is critical to the future of New Hampshire and the nation as a whole. A:  Every child needs an equal opportunity to succeed.  If we don't meet this civic responsibility in early childhood, children face learning disadvantages throughout their school years.  The future social costs of low-educated adults is a risk our state governments and our economy can't continue absorbing.  Our nation will fall further behind other countries in competitiveness and faces greater gaps in income inequality.

Human Services and Mental Health

As we recognized the 2nd anniversary of enacting statewide Medicaid expansion, which provides coverage to 3,000 people in Cheshire County, it is important also to recognize that we still have important health and mental health care issues needing attention. Keene Sentinel articles have informed us of people falling through our health care, mental health and human services systems.  Additional perspectives come from Cheshire County professionals about how we can improve mental health and human services in NH.  

We currently spend a lot of money putting band aids on symptoms without dealing with the root causes of income, home, and food insecurities.  Frequently, these symptoms are connected to a substance use disorders, mental illness, abusive relationships, learning disabilities and disrupted education and often they co-exist.  We need to go beyond patching the symptoms and to a more systematic approach to helping people overcome the pain from root causes; it’s not a dash to the finish line it’s about restoring belief in oneself and that change is possible.

As the problem of substance use disorders increases it becomes more evident there is a shortage of people trained to work on these issues. Staffing levels are affected by:

• low earnings,
• high burn-out rates from unrealistic workloads, and
• a lack of certification and degree programs to fill current openings.

Area mental health, healthcare, corrections and human service professionals provide some valuable ideas for us to consider:

1) Review NH's licensing requirements for healthcare and substance use disorder counselors, and accept reciprocity of licensure/certification from other states. Professionals in the field believe NH takes too long, and newly qualified personnel are going elsewhere for work.

2)  Create more in-state educational opportunities for certificate and degree programs that provide health-care, mental health and human services personnel.  

3) Expand model programs, like Southwestern Community Services’ Coordinated Access Provider Program (CAPP), a 24/7 hotline providing Trained Recovery Coaches within one hour of emergency responders coming to assist users.

4) Begin Substance Use Education at earlier ages and reach out to family’s of youngsters who experience the stress of a household in need of help.

5) Offer alternatives to incarceration, such as drug court programs, transitions to work and more health-trained professionals to prescribe treatment for substance use disorders.

6) Increase screening of 0-5 year-old children for learning, physical, and behavioral disabilities and expand treatment options.

7) Integrate information systems and services.  So often people who need housing assistance also need food, education, employment experience, energy assistance, or child care, and each service request is treated like a first (or separate) occurrence.  We make it difficult to for people applying for services that are co-related but separated by  funding silos.

8) Provide better information technology to state employees.  State and non-profit caseworkers are overloaded and need better technology to do their work.

We are spending a lot of volunteer and salaried resources on stand-alone programs and can strengthen the safety net in NH and the nation by coordinating needs and services.  Most of the ideas above are inexpensive and within our ability to implement quickly.  Cheshire County professionals, coaches, families and individuals dealing with recovery have much to offer to policy makers.  The responsibility of area legislators is to ensure that local ideas drive policy and funding, not just follow.

Jay Kahn

Jay Kahn for Senate Endorsed by SEA/SEIU Local 1984

SEA/SEIU Local 1984 is New Hampshire’s largest public sector union, representing 11,000 public servants across the state.  Yesterday, August 29th, 2016, SEA/SEIU Local 1984 announced their endorsement of Jay Kahn for New Hampshire State Senate, District 10. The Local 1984 press release writes that his "background in education as well as his leadership and development experience have prepared him well for the job, and his focus on economic development and innovation shows he knows what is needed to keep New Hampshire moving forward." “Jay Kahn is with us on many important issues including increasing access to education and health care, investing in our infrastructure and combatting the opioid epidemic,” said Leneille Howe, of Swanzey, the Local 1984 member cited in the press release. “What really struck me was how attentive he was to the concerns we brought forward, and how deeply those concerns seemed to resonate with him. It’s important that a candidate is right on the issues, but more so that they’re able to really understand the concerns of the people they represent.” Jay Kahn was an administrative professional for 43 years, 28 of them spent in the Monadnock region at Keene State College, both as the Vice President of Finance and Planning and as Interim President.  He has chaired the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce, Cheshire Medical Center, and the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation.

Jay Kahn responded to this endorsement with the statement: "This endorsement means a lot to me. I appreciate what the SEA/SEIU Local 1984 membership does for the people of New Hampshire. I’m working hard to represent District 10 in the next legislative session, and having SEA/SEIU's support is a valuable piece of that effort. Thank you."

Local 1984's support follows the Kahn Campaign picking up support from the American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire (AFT-NH), the New Hampshire branch of the National Educational Association (NEA-NH), District 10 Congresswoman Annie Kuster, and outgoing State Senator Molly Kelly, along with 31 other current, in-district elected officials.

SEA/SEIU Local 1984 represents over 10,000 public and private-sector employees across the Granite State.  First formed in 1940 as a social organization, the SEA won passage of New Hampshire’s Public Employee Labor Relations Law in 1975.  Since then, the union has negotiated hundreds of contracts with state, county, municipal and private-sector employers.  The SEA affiliated with the Service Employees’ International Union in 1984.  With two million members, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas.

AFT-NH announces support for Jay Kahn for Senate

Jay Kahn, Democratic candidate for the New Hampshire State Senate in District 10, is a higher education administrative professional for 43 years, 28 of them spent in the Monadnock region at Keene State College.  For that reason, he feels extra proud today to announce his candidacy has earned the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire. The American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire is the largest affiliate of NH AFL-CIO and represents a broad cross-section of teachers, paraprofessionals, police, public employees, and higher education faculty.  Like AFT on the national level, AFT-NH champions “fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities.”

According to AFT-NH President Douglas Ley, Jay Kahn is the strongest candidate in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 10.  “Jay Kahn is the candidate best poised to carry forward the work of retiring Senator Molly Kelly, continuing her tradition of firm advocacy for working people and working families in New Hampshire.” Kahn stated “I am proud to receive the endorsement of AFT-NH.  We share an interest in supporting teachers, students and public employees, and in improving the quality of education.”