By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org CONCORD — After a half-hour delay due to connectivity issues, the new Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee approved the first installment of a federal grant to expand charter schools. The first installment of the $46 million federal Department of Education grant, $10.1 million, was accepted on a 7-3 vote, not surprisingly down party lines. When the Democrats controlled the legislature last term, the committee refused to accept the money saying it would obligate the state to future charter school costs while syphoning money away from traditional public schools at a time when they increased school funding to help poorer communities adversely impacted by the state’s education funding system.