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Another Claremont Case? Pittsfield Mulls Renewed School Funding Fight

Todd Bookman / NHPR

School leaders and community members will meet in Pittsfield tonight to learn more about how the state funds education. NHPR’s Daniela Allee has more on why this conversation is happening.

Twenty-one years ago, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the state had to provide adequate funding for public education.

But some school districts say the state hasn’t held up its end of the bargain. Property-poor districts like Pittsfield are working with tighter budgets year after year.

Pittsfield School Board President Mike Wolfe is contemplating the possibility of suing the state.

"I mean suing the state ... it's not high in my list of things I want to do," Wolfe says. "They should be doing what's right and they're not doing what's right and it's ridiculous."

At tonight’s forum, Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky will explain how the state calculates its funding, and how that's changed over time. He says he will not advocate for a particular solution to districts' funding issues.

Members from the Berlin and Franklin school districts will also attend.

Daniela is an editor in NHPR's newsroom. She leads NHPR's Spanish language news initiative, ¿Qué Hay de Nuevo, New Hampshire? and the station's climate change reporting project, By Degrees. You can email her at dallee@nhpr.org.
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