Ayotte to replace New Hampshire’s top education official

Ayotte, a fellow proponent of school choice who took office in January, said Edelblut deserves credit for spending the past eight years making New Hampshire schools “more innovative and forward-thinking.” She also praised his focus on expanding the variety of educational opportunities available to families in the state.

“My office will launch a search for our next Education Commissioner who will build on this momentum and further our goal of improving our standards and academic performance, supporting our incredible teachers, and delivering a best-in-class education for every child in New Hampshire,” Ayotte said in a statement.

Edelblut, 63, said in the same statement that he will leave the New Hampshire Department of Education in a good spot, touting his work to support not only traditional public education but also public charter schools, private schools, home education, “microschools,” and the state’s voucher-like Education Freedom Account program, which allows low and moderate income families to use state funding toward education-related expenses of their choosing.

“With a strong educational foundation already in place, our state is well-positioned for continued growth,” he said. “I am deeply grateful to my colleagues across New Hampshire and the nation who have joined me in expanding pathways to education and advancing learner-centered opportunities.”

Edelblut, a businessman, was first appointed as education commissioner in 2017 by Governor Christopher T. Sununu, who had just beaten him by less than 1 percentage point in the GOP’s 2016 gubernatorial primary.

Edelblut, who was reappointed in 2021, will stay on through the remainder of the school year “in holdover status,” Ayotte’s office said.

Edelblut was routinely criticized by Democrats, who argue the Education Freedom Account program inappropriately diverts taxpayer money away from the state’s public schools.

Edelblut, whose own seven children were homeschooled, has also faced criticism for some of the ways he speaks to and about public school teachers and their handling of sensitive topics, particularly those pertaining to race and sexuality.

In 2021, Edelblut delivered a speech to what Sununu called a “fringe group” with a history of supporting “anti-government actions.” Sununu said it was “inappropriate” for Edelblut to attend that event in his official capacity, as InDepthNH reported at the time.

In 2022, Edelblut published an op-ed along with a packet of instructional materials collected from New Hampshire schools that he said parents had identified as “conflicting with their values.” Critics slammed his comments as “manufactured outrage.” (A transgender teacher whose work was featured in that document has since left the profession entirely, as New Hampshire Public Radio reported.)

In 2023, Edelblut successfully lobbied the state Board of Education to authorize academic credit for an online course from PragerU, a right-wing nonprofit with an openly anti-“woke” agenda. (He also helped promote PragerU’s broader aims behind the scenes, as NHPR reported.)

In 2024, Edelblut published an op-ed to argue the Department of Education on his watch has been “looking out for the children.” To illustrate his point, the article alluded to a teacher who had been accused of lying to secretly escort a student to an abortion appointment without their parents knowing. But Edelblut neglected to mention the student was an adult, not a child, according to a lawsuit the teacher filed to get her credentials reinstated.

Although he opted not to run for governor again in the 2024 cycle, Edelblut spoke at the campaign kickoff event for former New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse, who lost to Ayotte in the GOP primary.

Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.