{"id":695,"date":"2026-09-17T12:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lefthandfeed.com\/?p=695"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:32:40","slug":"new-hampshire-education-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefthandfeed.com\/?p=695","title":{"rendered":"New Hampshire Education Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is a bigger conversation we need to have about public education in New Hampshire\u2014and it is bigger than whether your kid likes their school, whether you think standardized testing tells the whole story, whether you prefer public schools or private schools, or whether one particular district has made good or bad decisions.<\/p>\n

The question is what happens when we slowly erode the public infrastructure that is supposed to educate an entire population.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because a public school is not simply a building where children sit in classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is teachers, paraprofessionals, special educators, school psychologists, nurses, counselors, librarians, transportation, technology, facilities, maintenance, curriculum, extracurricular activities, career and technical education, meals, athletics, arts, administrative systems, special education services, and the institutional capacity to accept every child who walks through the door.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And New Hampshire’s own Supreme Court has now said something remarkably important: the State has not fulfilled its constitutional obligation to adequately fund the opportunity for an adequate public education.<\/strong> (Contoocook Valley School District v. State<\/em>, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That should not be a partisan talking point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should be a giant flashing \u201cpay attention\u201d<\/strong> sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First: What do we actually mean by \u201cpublic-school infrastructure\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When people hear \u201cinfrastructure,\u201d they often picture roads, bridges, water systems, or a crumbling municipal building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But infrastructure is also the network of people, institutions, facilities, and public systems that allow a community to function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A public school system is one of those systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Hampshire Supreme Court’s 2025 Contoocook Valley School District v. State<\/a><\/em> decision is particularly important because the case<\/a> did not merely ask whether schools wanted more money. The Court examined whether the State had actually determined and funded the cost of providing the opportunity for a constitutionally adequate education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n