The tables purport to display the amounts of Building Aid, Catastrophic Aid, Foundation Aid, and Revenue Sharing the school districts received from the state. But even if some of the numbers in the tables are correct, the tables themselves do not present a complete or an accurate depiction of their effect on the school districts.

Table 13 - Foundation Aid Received by the School Districts

Foundation aid is the only state program designed to equalize the ability of districts to raise revenues from property taxes. The state has never fully funded the Foundation Aid Program. Full funding would require the state to contribute eight percent of the average tuition costs of each New Hampshire student.

The eight percent contribution is the result of a politically negotiated percentage and is not based on sound educational policy. In 1991, the Foundation Aid Committee issued a report noting that $80 million was needed to meet the targeted state contribution of eight percent. Only $47 million was appropriated that year.

In 1993-94, approximately $57 million was appropriated, including an additional allocation of $10 million, which came late in the school year. However, in 1994-95 the appropriation went back to $47 million. Because the appropriation level is left to the whim of the state, needy local school districts are never certain how much Foundation Aid they will receive in a given school year. This has caused severe problems in years when districts received amounts that were less than anticipated.

Table 12 - Building Aid Received by the School Districts

Depending on how a school district is organized, the Building Aid Program contributes between 30 to 55 percent of their annual principal payment for bonds supporting building projects.

State Building Aid payments are made without regard to the fiscal capacity of a school district and are not intended to equalize financial disparities between districts. The state's property poor school districts must compete for Building Aid monies with the state's property rich school districts, which are better able to start and fund projects.

As a result, three out of the five comparison school districts received more in Building Aid than the petitioner school districts.

The Building Aid program does not provide the state with authority to require districts to renovate buildings or construct new buildings, no matter how inadequate the condition of the existing school facility.

There is no requirement that the Building Aid program be fully funded by the state. The money is available only to the extent it is funded by the legislature. In the school year 1987-88, the Building Aid Program was pro-rated at 95.67% of full entitlement, a shortfall of $250,000 that the school districts had to make up.

Table 11 - Catastrophic Aid Received by the School Districts

Catastrophic Aid provides assistance to districts to meet special education costs. The program reimburses districts for 80% of the special education costs that exceed 3.5 times the state average student tuition. The local districts fund the remaining 20%. For those students whose costs exceed ten times the state average tuition, the state pays 100%.