CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire House voted 206-165 in support of an amendment to HB 2 that removes the mandatory statewide school budget cap. The legislative language taken from HB 675 was originally inserted by the House Finance Committee; it would have placed an arbitrary cap on school district budgets based on inflation and enrollment trends—regardless of real costs like teacher salaries, special education services, or rising utility bills. Today’s vote comes on the heels of communities across New Hampshire overwhelmingly rejecting petition warrant articles to institute local per pupil spending caps during their annual school district meetings.
Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, provided the following statement after the votes:
“For months, Granite Staters have overwhelmingly spoken up and voted against efforts to arbitrarily cap local school budgets. Today, state lawmakers listened to their constituents and voted to strip a statewide school budget cap mandate from the state budget.
As taxpayers, educators understand the frustration with the rise in property taxes—and we feel it, too. But putting arbitrary spending caps on public school budgets is not the way to address a funding crisis created by the State’s failure to fully fund an adequate education. While New Hampshire ranks in the Top 10 for public education funding overall, nationwide we are 50th—dead last—when it comes to state funding. That means property taxpayers are forced to cover the balance because the State will not pay its fair share.
We hope elected officials continue listening to the people of New Hampshire, who overwhelmingly support their community public schools, and work across the aisle to fix our state’s broken education funding system to ensure every child has access to a quality education, regardless of their zip code.”
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About NEA-New Hampshire
NEA-New Hampshire is the largest union of public employees in the state. Founded in 1854, the New Hampshire State Teachers Association became one of the “founding ten” state education associations that formed the National Education Association in 1857. Known today as NEA-NH, and comprised of more than 17,000 members, our mission to advocate for the children of New Hampshire and public-school employees, and to promote lifelong learning, remains true after more than 165 years. Our members are public school employees in all stages of their careers, including classroom teachers and other certified professionals, staff and instructors at public higher education institutions, students preparing for a teaching career, education support personnel and those retired from the profession.
