InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/author/andru-volinsky/page/3/)
Think of it. If you followed the state’s approach, teachers would be fired each year and replaced with new grads who would teach grades of children all of which would be perfectly divisible by 25, because if there were 26 children in a class, the district would need two teachers each teaching a class of 13 children and this would break the cost model.
The California Supreme Court found that education is a fundamental right because “education is the lifeline of both the individual and society” and “a major determinant of an individual’s chances for economic and social success in our competitive society [and]…[as] a unique influence on a child’s development as a citizen and his participation in political and community life.”
Vouchers are all the rage in NH thanks in large part to Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut who promised the cost would be about $3 million in the first two years. It was actually $23 million and 90 percent of that went to parents who were already sending their kids to private or religious schools or homeschooling.
We were in court last week to try to undo the damage caused by the state’s and ConVal plaintiffs’ objection to consolidating the Rand and ConVal cases for trial.
Two topics this week, special education funding reform and a childish attack on Judge Ruoff by Governor Sununu.
Berlin’s paper mill owners invested in their unionized work force, including by providing kindergarten for workers’ children.
New Hampshire has a political slogan called, “the Pledge.” It’s not the Pledge of Allegiance or some other kind of pledge to God, country or high ideals. It’s a political pledge to William Loeb’s hatred of broad-based taxes which he defined as a state income or sales tax.
From ‘A Book, an Idea and a Goat,’ Andru Volinsky’s weekly newsletter on Substack that is primarily devoted to writing about the national movement for fair school funding and other means of effecting social change.
The Claremont school funding litigation began in 1990. There are a few bits of history that should be touched on before we launch into the Claremont story because they explain why litigation was necessary and why it was pursued in the way it was.