Representative David Hess

April 25, 2007      

“The World Turned Upside Down” was the tune the British marched to when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown. It is also the tune 86 towns and cities, which lose under Governor Lynch’s irrational education funding program, should be singing.

On February 15, Governor John Lynch said in his State of the State Address that he would give every community which received education grants last year a 5% increase.  Unfortunately, those numbers were far below what a number of school districts had been told to expect.  After extensive lobbying, the Governor changed his plans. 

It was then reported that he came up with a second plan, giving all towns and cities either 5% more of this year’s grant, or 5% more of next year’s projected grant under current law.  It soon became obvious that this would be too expensive.  So, his third and current plan is to either take this year’s grant and add 5% to that amount, or give communities 94.6596522% of what they would have received next year under current law.  Confused?  You’re not alone.

There is neither rhyme nor reason to this formula.  In fact, the Governor’s plan spends the exact same amount, dollar for dollar, as the State would have spent under current law.  The Governor’s current plan, which the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed unchanged, just shuffles the money around, not unlike a shell game.  The biggest difference is that 86 towns lose over $16 million under the Governor’s plan; towns that can ill afford to lose money, including four of the five original Claremont lawsuit towns.  Claremont loses $600,000, Franklin loses $145,000, Allenstown loses $100,000, and Lisbon loses $50,000.  Oh, and Nashua loses almost $2 million; Derry loses $1.5 million; Rochester loses $1.1 million; Berlin loses $534,000; Somersworth loses $357,000 and Charlestown loses $287,000.  While 86 of our towns and cities lose money, towns that do not need state aid, (frequently labeled “wealthy” towns such as Amherst and Hollis) get more money!  So, while the Governor is advocating a constitutional amendment in order, as he says, to send more state aid to our poorer communities, he has pushed through a funding plan that takes from the poor and gives to the rich!  Furthermore, while the Democratic leaders in the House contend that the current education funding formula is unconstitutional, they revise current law by either increasing or reducing grants by 5%.  This is the most arbitrary and capricious school funding formula ever considered in Concord ! 

Never mind the fact that this education funding plan was not submitted in stand-alone legislation, faced no public hearing, or that Representatives were not given information about aid to their own districts until the morning of the vote.  This change in the formula, which came after most towns and cities had already adopted their budgets for the year, will force municipalities to raise their local property taxes on home owners in order to make up for the reduced grants.  This year’s formula is irrational and indefensible; it cannot be explained either in terms of education policy or of tax equity.  Unfortunately, our world, too, has been turned upside down by Governor Lynch and his Democrat-controlled legislature.