New Hampshire House Adopts Shortened List Of Adequate Education Elements

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — School nurses and superintendent services would not be components of an adequate education under a bill the House approved Wednesday.

House Bill 1121 lists elements that are to be included in determining the cost of an adequate education, but leaves out such things as school nurses and superintendent and administrative services, which opponents say are critical to an adequate education, which the state is constitutionally obligated to provide its children.

Democrats proposed an amendment that included all the elements of an adequate education included in Superior Court Judge David Ruoff’s ConVal ruling that he used to determine the cost of an adequate education.

He determined the cost was nearly double what the state pays per pupil which is about $4,200.

Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton, said his amendment is the better choice and would be huge for kids and families and a huge savings for property taxpayers without spending a penny more.

His amendment was voted down.

Rep. Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill, and the prime sponsor of HB 1121, said his bill draws on the work of the 2008 education funding oversight committee which determined the cost of an adequate education should be for academics and curriculum and not on things like administrative costs.

He said his bill contains the critical 11 content areas currently in statute when considering the definition and costs Rep. Tracy Bricchi, D-Concord, said the state is responsible for providing an adequate education and the bill is another way the state is shirking that responsibility.

The bill was approved on a 187-152 vote.

The bill is one of several that would change the state’s responsibility for providing an adequate education making it a shared responsibility with local school districts and does not set a foundation or minimum commitment on the state’s part.

The bill has already passed the House and in the Senate which has a nearly identical bill.

HB 1121 would also remove the current requirement in statute that the legislature review the elements and the costs of an adequate education at least every 10 years.

The Attorney General’s Office is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn the original Claremont education decisions that require the state to provide an adequate education, define it, pay for it, and use constitutional taxation not widely varying local property taxes.

The request is included in the state’s appeal of Ruoff’s Rand decision to the state Supreme Court. The decision found the state has failed to meet its constitutional obligation to pay for an adequate education and for special education services as well and in shifting those costs to local property taxpayers.

The decision also says if the state shifts those costs, those taxes also must meet state constitutional requirements, they be proportional and reasonable, not widely varying as they do from district to district.

The attorney general’s contention is that the court more than 30 years ago misinterpreted the constitutional articles which were the foundation for their decisions.

The supreme court has used the original decisions as the basis for a number of other challenges to the state’s education funding system.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.