The guidelines of the NEASC are not a radical or extravagant wish list, but common sense guidelines that are part of a constitutionally adequate education.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court in its 12/17/97, Claremont II decision assigned two tasks to the governor and the legislature that are to be completed within the next year.

The first, is that a definition of educational adequacy must be fashioned that meets the demands of the New Hampshire Constitution and is within the guidelines set forth in the New Hampshire Supreme Court's, 12/17/97, Claremont II decision.

"Out of order" Computer at School Franklin High School P#64

The second task, is to decide how the state is going to fund the cost of that constitutionally adequate education for every educable child in New Hampshire.

The Claremont Lawsuit Coalition, Inc. and the Wiss Institute for Public Policy Research have prepared this informational book to help facilitate debate on defining educational adequacy and on developing an equitable and effective way to fund it. The Claremont Lawsuit Coalition, Inc. is a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to coordinate the efforts of the school districts in their fight to secure equal educational opportunities for New Hampshire's school children.

The book begins with a procedural history of the lawsuit. It is followed by a brief history of the struggle to secure the constitutional rights of the state's school children that begins in 1982 with the filing of the Jessemen education lawsuit and chronicles how the broken promises of Augenblick lead to the filing of the Claremont lawsuit in June 1991.

Included in the book are the New Hampshire Supreme Court's 1993 Claremont I and 1997 Claremont II decisions. There is a list, entitled "Conditions in the School Districts", of existing educational inadequacies that New Hampshire's school children face every day. The conditions were described during the 1996 trial by the school districts' teachers, principals, staff, superintendents and school board members.

An important source of information about the state's public education system is the evidence that was presented during the 1996, seven week trial held in the Merrimack Superior Court. Reviewing the evidence is invaluable in understanding the enormity of the problems that the school districts face and in understanding why the New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned the December 6, 1996 ruling by the Superior Court.

The trial evidence is organized into the categories of: Per Pupil Expenditures, Student-Teacher Ratios, Technology, Curriculum Development, "At-Risk" and Enrichment programs, Educational Outputs, Facilities and Categorical Aid programs.