New Hampshire still ranks last in state-level share of K-12 education funding
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Megan Tuttle, president of NEA New Hampshire, said some state lawmakers 'keep failing to adequately fund public education,' and the state's overreliance on local property taxes means students receive differing opportunities based on their ZIP codes.
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'For example, students in property poor and lower-income communities often don't get to take AP courses or join extra curricular activities,' she said. 'Differences in funding levels across the state also impact educator salaries, leading to serious recruitment and retention issues that directly harm student learning.'
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Whether the current model should be replaced with a system that requires the state to contribute more funding and distribute SWEPT revenues more equally is the subject of a pair of disputes
While the state's share of K-12 public school spending is relatively slim, the overall amount that New Hampshire schools spend per student is higher than most other states. New Hampshire ranked seventh in the US last school year, spending $22,252 per pupil, according to the NEA data. That was slightly more than Maine schools spent per pupil and a few thousands dollars less than Massachusetts schools spent per pupil.
Republican state lawmakers have advocated for caps to limit the growth of school spending at the local level. They have also proposed universal eligibility for the Education Freedom Account program, which would allow all families to take the state's share of education funding and use it for private school or other education expenses. Democrats have advocated for their own legislative proposals to increase education funding at the state level and distribute SWEPT revenues more evenly.
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