| Preface | |
In February, 1989, the Claremont School Board passed a resolution to challenge the constitutionality of the use of property taxes as the primary funding source for education. One month later, delegates from school boards throughout the State adopted this resolution at an assembly of the New Hampshire School Boards Association. With the support of more than twenty school districts, a constitutional challenge was filed in the Merrimack County Superior Court in 1991.
On December 30,1993, the New Hampshire Supreme Court decreed that the State Constitution imposes a duty to provide an adequate education to the state's children and to guarantee funding. The Court reaffirmed our founding fathers' belief that education was a "cornerstone to our democratic system", and deferred to the Legislature and Governor to define and provide the constitutionally mandated level of education.
In response to the Court's bold proclamation, the Governor and the Legislature failed to take action. Doing the right thing for justices sake gave way to political expediency and the sacrificing of quality education for New Hampshire's school children. When the Superior Court then ruled on remand that the current standards for education and financing met constitutional muster, the defenders of the status quo were jubilant that their position had been legitimized.
On December 17,1997, the New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed the lower court, and decreed that the present system of financing elementary and secondary public education in the State was unconstitutional. The principle of separation of powers set forth in the Constitution of 1784 had been triggered; the higher law of our State Constitution, that fundamental law of the sovereign people of New Hampshire was controlling.
In recognition of the indissoluble bond of unity and amity among the three branches, the Supreme Court once again deferred the issues now emboldened in the Claremont lawsuit back to the Legislature and Governor to "act expeditiously to fulfill the State's duty to provide for a constitutionally adequate public education and to guarantee adequate funding in a manner that does not violate the State Constitution."
It is now the dawn of a new era for education in New Hampshire. What began as a stirring by some citizens in Claremont nine years ago has grown to a coalition of more than forty school districts, hundreds of individuals and many dedicated lawyers, without whose support this constitutional challenge would not have survived the onslaught of political vehemence. Born out of concern for our children and their education, this case is a tribute to the vision of our Founding Fathers that education was essential to the preservation of a free government, and a tribute to the New Hampshire Supreme Court for boldly decrying the government's desecration of that vision.
| Thomas P. Connair, Esq. Chair, Claremont Lawsuit Coalition March, 1998 |
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