The current method of relying on property tax revenue to fund public education in New Hampshire is broken, unsustainable, and unfair to students and taxpayers alike. We must redesign and reimagine our approach, to ensure all kids receive an education that does not vary in quality or adequacy from zip code to zip code across our state.
One thing in particular to think about: The State of New Hampshire and the federal government have established millions of dollars of unfunded mandates for the public schools, telling our communities what we must do, but not picking up the tab for what is required. For example, New Hampshire mandates busing for K-8 students, but forwards the invoice for that mandated busing directly to your mailbox via your local property tax bill. If the state paid for what it requires, and if the US government did the same with what it requires, your tax bills would decrease as a result - because the costs would be split out amongst many more citizens than the few thousand that live in our small towns.
To put this in perspective, consider that currently, the state average for the cost of education is over $20,000 per student per year. However, New Hampshire pays school districts just $4,182 per student, as what they call "base adequacy aid." This funding scheme has been deemed unconstitutional by several Courts, yet our legislature has not stepped up to get this fixed, leaving us out of compliance with court rulings while our property taxes continue to climb.
There are solutions, but we need thoughtful leaders who want to see public education succeed and who will do the hard work to make it happen. I have lived this issue from the perspective of a school board chair, and also from the perspective of a taxpayer, and a parent of a child who is soon entering public school. I know how we need to move forward, and I am ready to tackle this issue from day one if I am elected.
“Knowledge and learning, generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools,…” NH State Constitution, part 2, Article 83 (approved 1784).
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