School Funding

The way we fund schools in New Hampshire is broken. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy fix.

While all spending decisions are made locally, the state provides a certain amount of money for every public school and EFA student. The amount per student is higher for a few reasons including income and special eduction needs.

On top of these per-student payments, there are a few “bandaids” to give some towns and cities more money.

In the most recent budget, the Senate adjusted the formula to reduce these extra payments. Unfortunately Derry still needs $5 million of this extra money to not receive less from the state each year.

In the end, the Senate formula reduced the per-student money in Derry by $75 – but this would be a $1,200 per student reduction without the extra $5 million!

Because the House was essentially tied, our only choice was to accept this new formula or vote down the entire budget.

Derry has significantly more students in special education than the state average, and I look forward to finding a better way to share the extra cost of educating special education students.