NH must step up for education

The GOP and State attempts to avoid the court’s repeated rulings to provide a constitutionally adequate public education are unconscionable. New Hampshire is currently 50th in supporting public education funding and the State should be ashamed of itself. The DOJ and Governor Ayotte’s support of HB 1815 and Attorney General Sam Garland’s testimony in favor of this bill — in defiance of the Supreme Court rulings—is more than concerning. It is a continuation of their attempt to destroy public education.

This is typical for New Hampshire. According to the Education Law Center, in 11 cases since 1993 the State has never fulfilled its constitutional duty (July 30, 2025). The Conval suit, filed by 18+ school districts (including Mascoma Valley Regional School District), found the State’s funding formula unconstitutional and unfair to local taxpayers. This suit began in 2019 and involved many interviews with school district officials, including myself, to determine what constitutes an “adequate education.” Garland’s argument that this bill would “clear up” what is included is just him disagreeing with the court’s determination.

Public education in NH is funded 70% from local property taxes. Even the State Wide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) is collected through local property taxes. The Superior Court ruled the base adequacy of $4,100 as inadequate and conservatively set $7,356 as the minimum. Inaccurately, Garland argued if differentiated aid was included in the calculation, then schools are already receiving $7,000 per student. However, not every student receives ‘differentiated aid,’ which is additional funds for free and reduced lunch students, for special education students, and for English language learners. The convoluted formula the State uses to determine funding may be found at education.nh.gov under data reports.

As Indepthnh.org reports, “It is not as if the court had given lawmakers an impossible task…the culprit is a lack of political will.” And tax caps are not the answer; look at the effect on Franklin or Rochester. The solution is for the State to step up, eliminate EFAs, restore employee retirement funding, and building aid rather than attempting to destroy public education.

Debra Ford, Enfield

The writer is a retired MVRSD business administrator.