A copy of this petition was submitted as testimony during the Senate Finance Committee’s public hearing on the State Budget on May 6. See the petition with the full list of signatures here.
This petition represents the voices of 1,931 people from nearly 200 towns across New Hampshire — towns that collectively educate over 95% of the state’s public school students. Every single Senate district is represented, along with nearly every House district, making it clear: this is a statewide issue. Every senator is accountable to their constituents on this matter, and no legislator can claim they haven’t heard this call for fair funding.
The people who signed this petition are asking you to fulfill your constitutional duty and pass a budget that provides adequate, equitable funding for our public schools. Their message is clear: stop downshifting billions in costs to local property taxpayers and start investing in every student — regardless of zip code.
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The State continues to fail to meet its constitutional obligation to fund public education, leaving a significant gap in funding between what it contributes per student (about $5,100), and the actual cost of education (over $20,000 per student). The difference is downshifted unevenly to our local property taxes year after year, harming students and residents in New Hampshire communities that are less able to raise funds.
A lot has changed since the last state budget. Two more court rulings have come down affirming that the State is acting unlawfully. In the ConVal case, the Court spoke in explicit terms about the current low levels of funding for our public schools, writing that while it is ultimately up to the legislature to determine the cost of base adequacy, it “can be no less than $7,356.01 per pupil per year and the true cost is likely much higher than that.” If the legislature adopted such a change, it could shift more of the responsibility for funding public education to the State and reduce local property taxes. In the Rand case, the Court established that it is unconstitutional for communities with higher property value to retain their excess SWEPT.
In 2023, citizens from across the state urged the legislature to pass a budget that (1) stopped the current downshifting of $2.7 billion per year from the State to taxpayers, (2) increased base adequacy aid to better reflect the actual costs of education and provide ongoing funding, and (3) targeted long term funding equitably to districts with more need.
Now, two years later, while some small steps have been taken, most of the deep inequities in student opportunities and tax burden still exist. We should not be paying wildly different property tax rates because the legislature refuses to act. Our children’s access to an adequate education should not be driven largely by our property values. Until the State takes action to comply with its constitutional responsibility to fund our schools, the educational and economic development opportunities that come with good schools and low taxes will not be available to everyone.
As citizens, constituents, parents, students, taxpayers, and business owners, we are calling on the legislature to develop an equitable and comprehensive school funding solution that works for every community in New Hampshire. Please use this state budget to take our voices seriously and support a fair funding solution for every student and taxpayer in New Hampshire.