Lawmakers Seek to Reclaim Power from State High Court
February 17, 2012
The New Hampshire Senate voted Wednesday to amend the state’s constitution in hopes of revamping the way schools are financed in the Granite State. The amendment is designed to address a 1997 New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling that forced lawmakers to provide financial support to each of the state's 166 public school districts.
The ruling fifteen years ago came as part of a wave of lawsuits around the country that sought to make state contributions a bigger piece of the education pie. In New Hampshire, state dollars went from representing less than 10% of K-12 education spending before the lawsuits to almost a third today.
NH State Senator Lou D'Allesandro
By contrast, the proposed constitutional amendment would reclaim education policymaking from the court and return that power to the legislative branch of state government. As passed by the Senate, the amendment reads:
In fulfillment of the provisions with respect to education set forth in Part II, Article 83, the legislature shall have full power and authority and the responsibility to define reasonable standards for elementary and secondary public education, to establish reasonable standards of accountability, and to mitigate local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity. Further, the legislature shall have full power and authority to determine the amount of, and the method of raising and distributing, state funding for public education.
The measure easily cleared the Senate in a 17 to 7 vote, largely along party lines. Sixteen Republicans were joined by one Democrat, Senator Lou D’Allesandro. While the amendment failed to win more bipartisan support, it does have the backing of New Hampshire's Democratic Governor John Lynch.
Proponents of the amendment contend that legislators should have the discretion to target school districts most in need of financial support -- a power the court has denied them. “Getting dollars to people who need them the most is essential,” D’Allesandro said on Wednesday.
Charlie Arlinghaus, President of the Bartlett Center for Public Policy, said that ultimately it comes down to a rightful separation of powers. "The legislature should have the ability to do what it thinks is best," Arlinghaus said.
The proposal now advances to New Hampshire’s House of Representatives, where it has the support of Speaker William O’Brien. If it passes there with a 60% majority, the amendment would need to garner a two-thirds majority vote in a statewide referendum this November to change New Hampshire's constitution.
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