NH Democrats want the state Supreme Court to approve a needs-based model for school funding

A group of House Democrats is asking the New Hampshire Supreme Court to consider a new model to fund schools in the state.

 In a brief filed to the court last Monday, the lawmakers asked the court to implement a “needs-based” approach for school funding. 

The state of New Hampshire is facing two lawsuits—Contoocook Valley School District et al. v. State of New Hampshire and Steven Rand et al. v. State of New Hampshire. 

One challenges that the state does not grant districts adequate funds per student to keep schools operational, forcing them to burden local property taxpayers to make up the difference. The other argues that the current funding model creates unfair disparities among municipalities. 

Last November, Rockingham Superior Court judge, David Ruoff, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in both cases, and held that the $4,100 per pupil base funding amount should be increased to $7,356.01.

As per Ruoff’s ruling in the second lawsuit, statewide education property tax (SWEPT) that districts raise by taxing local property is unconstitutional. Under an earlier version of SWEPT, excess revenue in any municipality would go to the state’s education trust fund that would then redistribute it to towns in need. However, the state’s 2011 decision allowed wealthier districts to retain that amount, widening the chasm between rich and poor towns.

The move comes after a group of House Republicans filed their own brief in the New Hampshire Supreme Court arguing the state has no obligation to fund an adequate education in the state, an argument resulting from  the landmark Claremont school funding decisions, which Republicans want to overturn and Democrats want to keep, while asking the Supreme Court to clarify their meanings.

According to the decisions from the 1990s, the state has a constitutional obligation to ensure an “adequate” education for all students. 

A 2020 independent legislative commission, tasked with finding the best way forward for school funding called New Hampshire’s current model “inequitable,” and found that students’ performances correlated with the wealth of their school districts. 

The state has appealed Ruoff’s rulings. Oral arguments have not been scheduled yet.