We live in a time where our country’s educational system stands on a dangerous precipice, one where allocated funding and the department used to oversee the education of our future scholars are being put on trial, making both liable for extreme change and even possible removal. Needless to say, the worries of what may happen to education in our nation has not been made any less severe by the heartbreaking news of N.H.’s schools being told to expect less aid for their special education costs in the years to come.
Residents have already seen that the state of N.H. has not been properly allocating funds to regular school programs in past years due to the statewide education property tax (SWEPT), raising the alarm over the tax and fighting to have it reinstated. Instead the state has been relying on property owners to cover the diverse costs of students’ educations, a job that should have already been the state’s responsibility and the state’s alone.
Now even special education needs are intended to be neglected by the state board with the ominous forewarning given to attendees of the school district meeting held by Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut. In an article by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), author Annmarie Timmins writes, “Several local school leaders interviewed Friday said that because they have no discretion over special education costs, they’ll have to consider asking taxpayers to cover that loss of state aid or discuss cutting teaching and paraprofessional positions and enrichment programs like art and music.”
Not only will the weight of paying for these special education programs once again fall on the shoulders of the people of N.H., but they will do so with the threat of cutting extracurricular programs and much needed teaching professionals from the schools they are now expected to provide for. According to the NHPR article, “Under Edelblut’s plan, the state would pick up 67.5% of its portion of special education aid in 2025, down from 87% this year and 98.3% in 2023. A school district that would have received $100,000 for a student, for example, would see that drop by $33,000 to about $67,000, under the change.” An incredible drop of the ball by the state with an incredibly outrageous percentage fallout in comparison to years prior. While the change in payment is being blamed on an increase in students requiring special education, this is a change that, again, is the state’s job to make adjustments for, not the taxpayers of N.H.
It has been proven with the unconstitutional SWEPT still present in N.H that forcing taxpayers to uphold the education costs that the state drops does not result in an adequate amount of funding being allocated to these schools. Instead costs skew based on location and schools find themselves underfunded regardless of the help provided by state property tax. Education should be made a top priority when it comes to state costs, special education programs included. The students of N.H., no matter what kind of education they require or where they may live, should be given adequately funded, equal opportunities to learn and grow in their schools. This warning of less state funding to yet another branch of education should rattle N.H. residents to their cores, especially now.
Kara Montagano can be contacted at
kmontagano@kscequinox.com
