On behalf of the Coalition Communities of 36 former “donor communities,” I would like to thank all state senators and representatives who supported the CACR 12 education funding constitutional amendment, especially District 24 Sen. Nancy Stiles of Hampton and District 3 Sen. Jeb Bradley of Wolfeboro, who served on the Conference Committee that produced the compromise language.
Throughout the legislative session, Sens. Stiles and Bradley pushed especially hard for legislation to prevent the return of “donor communities” while ensuring each N.H. schoolchild has an opportunity for a great education.
They, and all the state lawmakers who supported CACR 12, understand the only way to prevent the return of “donor communities” is to eliminate the Statewide Education Property Tax, and the best way to do that was to pass a constitutional amendment allowing (the) targeting (of education aid money) to truly needy towns instead of allocating the same “base” amount for every schoolchild. We believe there would have been enough money to really help the towns that need it without the Statewide Education Property Tax — or forcing some communities to be “donors.”
The amendment lost by just 13 votes, which means N.H. citizens also lost their opportunity to vote on how they want education funded. But in November, they can vote on whether there should be a constitutional convention to propose changes to the N.H. Constitution, including any related to education funding.
In the meantime, I urge all those who believe New Hampshire should be like 48 other states that use state funds only for towns needing help to educate their kids to thank their legislators who voted for CACR 12 on June 6. Your legislators’ voting records can be found at http://gen
court.state.nh.us.
Pat Remick
Coalition Communities coordinator
Full Article: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120620-OPINION-206200347.
