| Introduction | Page 2 |
The Supreme Court on December 30th, 1993, also charged the governor and the legislature with the responsibility to define what constitutes a constitutionally adequate education.
In the four years between Claremont I and Claremont II the legislature and the governor did not propose a definition of educational adequacy. The state continues to fulfill its "duty" to provide every child with a constitutionally adequate education by requiring the school districts to pay for 90 percent of the cost of public education.
The reliance by the state on local property taxes creates huge disparities in the educational opportunities available to school children and places a great hardship on the local property tax payers.
Local property tax payers in over two/thirds of the state's school districts struggle with school tax rates of over $20.00 dollars per thousand. Despite their great tax efforts, the per pupil expenditures in most school districts are below that of the state average.
Because these school districts are barely able to raise enough money from local property taxes to pay for state and federal mandates, there is very little funding available for any discretionary spending in their budgets. Local control is nonexistent in most of the state's school districts.
In the following table, New Hampshire's school districts were divided into three equal groups, ranked low to high according to the amount of equalized valuation of property per pupil. Property-poorer districts are in Pupil Group 1, property-wealthier districts are in Pupil Group 3.
| Pupil Group | 1995 Equalized valuation of property per pupil | 1995 school tax rate per $1000 equalized | 1995 Local School Revenue per pupil | 1996-97 Foundation Aid per pupil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | $209,236 | $22.38 | $4,668 | $605 |
| 2. | $276,959 | $20.39 | $5,609 | $147 |
| 3. | $526,590 | $12.35 | $6,567 | $28 |
| State Average | $333, 973 | $16.71 | $5,584 | $270 |
64% of all students live in districts which spend below the state average cost per pupil of $5,242.75% of all students live in districts which are below the state average equalized valuation of property per pupil of $333, 973.
73% of all students live in districts which have above the state average equalized school tax rate of $16.71
The state's system of funding public education works against the best interests of approximately 75% of the state's school children and local property taxpayers.
To further illustrate just how cruel and capricious the state's system can be to New Hampshire's school children, consider how the children of Pittsfield fare under the state's system compared to their neighbors in Moultonborough.
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