NEW HAMPSHIRE HOUSE VOTES FOR EDUCATION COSTING BILL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 7, 2008

Rep. Dan Eaton, (603) 271-3164

Rep. Tim Dunn, (603) 271-3334

Rep. Randy Foose, (603) 271-3164

NEW HAMPSHIRE HOUSE VOTES FOR EDUCATION COSTING BILL

CONCORD – The New Hampshire House voted today for legislation that determines the cost of providing an adequate education to all New Hampshire students. This legislation now heads back to the Senate for concurrence. A bill from last year’s session that defined an adequate education has already been signed into law.

"This legislation is a thorough and thoughtful examination of the cost of the components of an adequate education as defined by the legislature and fulfills the state's constitutional responsibility to determine the cost of adequacy,” said Rep. Dan Eaton (D-Stoddard).

Senate Bill 539 allocates aid per pupil based on universal costs. The cost of adequacy includes Special Education, English Language Learners, and schools with students who receive Free and Reduced Price Lunch. These factors are all included in the average per student amount of the cost of an adequate education.

The version of the bill passed by the House Finance Committee determined that the total cost of providing an adequate education for every public school pupil under this plan is estimated to be about $940 million. Under this legislation, no town will get less money than they currently receive, and a cap of 15% will be put on communities that are slated to receive increased aid over what they currently receive from the state.

“The House Finance Committee did not change the education policy already adopted by the House,” said Rep. Randy Foose (D-New London), a member of the Finance Committee. SB539 was first passed by the House Education Committee, and the House Finance Committee then examined the financial aspects of the bill. “These financial changes simply allow every school district to know what aid they are going to get for the school year beginning in the fall of 2009, and know that they will not receive less than they currently do – in fact, some districts will receive up to 15 percent more.”

This legislation will also set up two commissions – one to study and determine school accountability and one to study fiscal capacity aid, transition aid and the impact of fixed costs on small school districts. These committees will report back to the legislature on December 1, 2008, and the reports will be used by the next legislature when it considers issues of distribution and funding. 

“The next legislature will benefit from these committee reports much like the current one benefited from the hard work of the adequacy and costing commissions,” said Rep. Tim Dunn (D-Keene), vice-chair of the House Education Committee.