Thanks to the many Pittsfield taxpayers who joined the recent meeting on Education Funding in New Hampshire. We were joined by many concerned taxpayers from across our state as we learned about the inequities in the state’s funding scheme and the failure of the legislature to address the issue in an equitable manner as required by the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
The presenters for our meeting – former Claremont case attorneys Andru Volinsky and John Tobin – draw two conclusions regarding next steps to correct the unjust system: a lawsuit that again challenges the state’s failure to meet its duty to our students and taxpayers and a focus on the issue of school funding in this fall’s elections for governor and the state legislature.
I’m sure that we’ll be hearing more about both of these initiatives. In the meantime, folks who were unable to attend the meeting (and those who did) can learn more about this important issue and its impact on Pittsfield through these links:
- The Claremont School Funding Reforms: Then and Now – Analysis of the impact of school funding reforms prompted by the Claremont cases
- Education Finance in New Hampshire: Headed for a Rural Crisis? – Analysis and report of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies
- Equalized Valuation per Pupil – New Hampshire Department of Education statistics
- Pittsfield and School Funding – Impact of school funding “reforms” on Pittsfield’s taxpayers and students
- Population and Student Grouping – analysis of equalized valuation per pupil
- Reality of Property Tax Rates and Commercial Industrial Property – analysis of the relationship between commercial industrial property and local tax rates
- “Adequate” Pittsfield Schools – A brief look at what running our school district on ‘adequate’ state funding would look like.