New Hampshire Education Funding and Pittsfield’s Students

Our state’s over-reliance on local property taxes to support public schools disadvantages Pittsfield’s students and other New Hampshire students who live in towns that are often referred to as “property-poor” towns, towns with limited ability to support its students.

In multiple rulings, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has clearly affirmed the state’s responsibility to support public education.  But in reality, the state has provided little to no relief for taxpayers and continued inequity for our children and youth:  the unequal playing field that has been long established continues to be maintained.

The well-known Claremont Lawsuit and its successors was expected to remedy this problem, but in fact has not done so. In fact, the recent elimination of stabilization grants to property-poor towns has worsened the inequity.

The state’s negligence has been well documented in an analysis conducted by the former New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies issued in June 2017: http://www.nhpolicy.org/report/ education-finance-in-new-hampshire-headed-to-a-rural-crisis.

The result of this inequity has resulted in sky-high tax rates for Pittsfield and other property-poor towns and the limiting of opportunities for Pittsfield’s students. The Pittsfield School Board has recently eliminated teaching and support positions at both schools which increase class sizes and cut out such positions as foreign language teacher and technology education (shop) teacher.

At its meeting of April 19, the Pittsfield School Board discussed school funding with Attorney Andru Volinsky, the lead attorney in the Claremont Lawsuit. The Board is in the process of evaluating options regarding this very frustrating situation.

To assist in this decision-making process, Attorney Volinsky will be providing a workshop on New Hampshire school funding, to which all Pittsfield citizens are invited. This workshop will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13, at PMHS.

Pittsfield residents are invited and encouraged to enter into this very important conversation. Please give your participation your most serious consideration.