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Senate to vote on education funding cap

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On Thursday the state Senate will vote on whether to lift a cap on education funding this year.

State education funding for each town is calculated according to many factors, including enrollment numbers, the number of students receiving free lunches, and the number of English language learners.

In 2011 the state passed a law that limits any increase in state funding, so a town could receive no more than 108% of the previous year's funding from the state.  That meant state funding did not match the growth in school districts with large population increases, such as Dover.

The current state budget lifts the cap in the next fiscal year.  SB 473, the Senate bill up for a vote on Thursday, lifts the cap in this fiscal year instead.

The bill is motivated in part by a lawsuit from the Dover School District.  Dover argues that the cap violates the constitutional requirement for adequate education funding.  If Dover wins in the courts, the state will need a bill to immediately remove the cap.

Other bill supporters argue that the cap should be removed regardless of court rulings.

“It simply implements the adequacy formula as intended, without any extraneous constraint, which is what the cap always was,” testified Dean Michener of the New Hampshire School Boards Association.  

Bill opponents argue that the legislature already voted to lift the cap in the next fiscal year, and there is no compelling reason to lift the cap one year earlier.

Other opponents are concerned that lifting the cap will threaten the availability of aid for poorer school districts with declining enrollment, since New Hampshire has limited revenue available for education funding.

Do you think New Hampshire should lift the cap on education funding this year or next year?  Comment below.

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