Taking this as the mandated duty and seeking the constitutional scope of this duty, I search for the constitutional purpose. I find this purpose in the language "the preservation of a free government." The article says that "education through the various parts of the country" is conducive to meet that end. Thus, my constitutional standard for adequacy would be satisfied if the education provided meets the minimum necessary to assure the preservation of a free government.

This standard would also be the subject of some debate, but the policy makers would have a standard mandated by the constitution. It would certainly contain the elements of reading, writing, and mathematics. It would also include exposure to history and the form of our government. Beyond this, arguments can be made for other elements. I would include in the constitutional standard the first three elements of the Kentucky standard adopted by the majority, but not necessarily the balance (mental and physical wellness, arts, preparation for advanced education or vocations). Rose v. Council for Better Educ., Inc., 790 S.W.2d 186, 212 (Ky. 1989). Although it is hard to fault the well-crafted Kentucky standard, it is taken from a constitution that vests in the "General Assembly" the duty to "provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the state." KY. CONST. § 183. Such a constitutional provision invites an imperative to adequacy in the general sense. It is not appropriate as an answer to our constitutional mandate. In our analysis, we must look to education in the constitutional sense and define the level and type of education mandated by our constitution. It is the latter mandate that I designate the constitutional "nut." It is this nut that the legislature and magistrates of this State must provide and for which they must guarantee funding. It is conclusive from the factual findings below that this constitutional nut has been provided by the school districts, well within their respective resources.

Of course, the definitive holding of the majority on the unconstitutionality of the current educational finance matrix is that it violates part II, article 5 of our constitution. This article requires that all taxes levied in the State be proportional and reasonable. Although the scope of the duty may be material to the question of reasonability, the issue of proportionality, in this case, is driven by a determination of the appropriate taxing district. If the taxing district is appropriate, it is clear that proportionality is determined within that taxing district. Keene v. Roxbury, 81 N.H. 332, 337, 126 A. 7, 10 (1924); State v. Express Co., 60 N.H. 219, 243 (1880) (Stanley, J.); Railroad v. The State, 60 N.H. 87, 97 (1880). The majority, equating "duty" with "purpose," and ignoring the fact that governmental duty can be delegated to its subdivisions, holds that since the duty resides with the State, the State is the appropriate taxing district within which to measure proportionality. I would move from an analysis of duty to an analysis of purpose, and hold that the purpose in education taxation is a local purpose, the education of children of the school district. Holt v. Antrim, 64 N.H. 284, 286, 9 A. 389, 389 (1886) ("Local education is a local purpose for which legislative power may be delegated to towns.").