InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/author/garry-rayno-indepthnh-org/page/6/)
The state’s newly implemented bell-to-bell cell phone ban has been effective in reducing distractions in the classroom and improving student focus according to administrators and teachers in a recent Department of Education survey.
U.S. News and World Reports annual ranking of states finds New Hampshire in sixth place, but is ranked number one for the safest state and for economic opportunity, although sixth for overall opportunities for its residents and businesses.
The state education funding system has been challenged for years going back decades, with one of the most recent suits decided by the state Supreme Court and the other still before the court.
In a year when two critical races in New Hampshire could determine the majorities in the US House and US Senate, the Democratic National Committee decided to ignore decades of tradition and history and give another state the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
While New Hampshire schools are ranked fourth best in the country, New Hampshire provides the least percentage of state aid to public schools in the country, at 19 or 29 percent, depending on whether you include the Statewide Education Property Tax in the total which raises $363 million annually.
A late 1970s rock band was named Cheap Trick, which could also be the title for House Bill 1300 which Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law last week.
The Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire, which administers the state’s Education Freedom Account program and its Business Education Tax Credit Scholarship Program, is adding staff in anticipation of the new federal voucher program set to begin Jan. 1.
Historically, there are two things a governor can do that really pisses off lawmakers, veto a hard-fought budget deal or the state’s 10-Year Highway Improvement Plan.
State revenues ended the fiscal year in a strong position with a $182 million surplus although accounting adjustments are likely to change the numbers before they are finalized for the state’s annual comprehensive financial audit.