Defending Against the N.H. GOP's War on Education

Text of CACR 12 amendment (4.00 / 1)

For those of you who have been parsing education funding amendments for years, here is the text that Speaker O'Brien sent to his caucus for their consideration:

[Art.] 5-c [Public Education.] In fulfillment of the provisions with respect to education set forth in Part II, Article 83, the Legislature shall have the responsibility to maintain a system of public elementary and secondary education and to mitigate local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity.  In the furtherance thereof, the Legislature shall have the full power and authority to make wholesome and reasonable standards for elementary and secondary public education and standards of accountability as it may judge for the benefit and welfare of this state; and the full power and authority to make determinations as to the amount of, and the methods of raising and distributing, state funding for public education as it may judge for the benefit and welfare of this state.

The only part I really like is the bit about "to mitigate local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity."   I'm not so sure what they mean by "maintain a system of public elementary and secondary education," but I fear that it might mean a merger between public schools (which I would call "public schools," rather than a "system of...etc.") private and religious schools, and homeschooling, all of which are valid educational options, but they are not public schools, and I do not want to see public funding beginning to cross that line.

What looks to be required in the first sentence, may be taken away again in the second sentence, as there is no threshold requirement for state funding, and no court oversight of the funding part of the equation.

And then there is the word "wholesome."  Black's Law Dictionary confirms there is no legal definition of the word.  I always thought of the word as meaning pure and unadulterated, like good bread, but the dictionary definition also carries a moral and spiritual component as well, which gets me back to worrying about religious schools.  From my Merriam Webster's Collegiate, the definition of "wholesome":

1.  promoting health or well-being of mind or spirit
2.  promoting health of body
3.  a.  sound in body, mind or morals; b.  having the simple health and vigor of normal domesticity
4.  a.  based on well-grounded fear: PRUDENT  b.  SAFE
(examples and synonyms omitted)

And just imagine what some current House members will do with the concept of "normal domesticity."  Or "well-grounded fear."  

Finally, the words just do not make sense together.  The two sentences are somewhat contradictory, the second sentence would make E B White have a fit, and the language could mean different things to different people.  I suspect that may have been the point.

Here is a fact that should help you to fight a little longer.
Things that don't actually kill you outright make you stronger.

Piet Hein, Grooks

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by: Lucy Weber @ Sat May 05, 2012 at 15:52:00 PM UTC

"Mitigate" (4.00 / 1)

"To make less severe." A dollar to Claremont fulfills that.

Nothing like today's state responsibility to ensure an adequate education.

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by: elwood @ Sun May 06, 2012 at 23:19:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

lipstick on a pig (4.00 / 1)

This amendment in whatever form is unnecessary and dangerous. The only reason we keep trying to remove a fundamental right in NH is that no one wants to own up to the fact that we don't have the capacity to fund schools from current revenues. We choose this fight year in and year out.  

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by: Salem Blue @ Mon May 07, 2012 at 13:57:50 PM UTC