Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles that will examine issues surrounding social class in education.
While Stevens High School struggles to find funding to carpet its classrooms, Hanover High School develops field trip programs as far afield as Canada and Costa Rica.
In 1997, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the state's system of financing public education was unconstitutional. This ruling has catalyzed dialogue about the state's inability to substantially adjust the distribution of funding, which continues to plague schools in poorer districts.
"The state can put more money out there or target toward the poorer towns. And right now it's not doing either of those," Lebanon Superintendent Michael Harris '72 said.
The New Hampshire school system receives its money largely from regional property tax. In order to fund education, citizens in some districts are taxed more than four times the amount of those in neighboring regions, according to the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling of Claremont II.
This means that in addition to paying an extortionate property tax, inhabitants of towns such as Mascoma and Claremont cannot afford to provide their students with the same caliber of education as their richer counterparts
In 2002, New Hampshire determined that the minimal amount of money spent on each high school student's education would be $7,502. Any excess funding built into the school's budget has to be approved by the taxpayers, who may not be able to afford amenities like computers in their homes, let alone their schools.
Sharp Contrasts
Why are more than three-quarters of Hanover High students going to college when less than half of Stevens High student go? Why is the Stevens High dropout rate almost three times that of Hanover High? More than parental support and individual ambition, in some cases, money makes the difference.
The average taxpayer of the Hanover district is considerably wealthier than his or her counterpart in Mascoma or Claremont. Hanover has a higher income base, and the district pays for more educational perks for their children.
These perks take the form of programming for students and high paychecks for teachers -- $69,694 in the highest bracket in Hanover, versus $43,695 in Claremont -- that draw the top educators to the region.
While the third graders of Hanover Street construct PowerPoint presentations instead of dioramas, Stevens High in Claremont does not offer a single Advanced Placement science course because it doesn't have the equipment or the technological resources.
Most of these differences appear because New Hampshire's current tax system makes individual districts responsible for the education of their children.
"I think it's a good system for people who live in Hanover, but I think it creates very diverse districts, and I think that you tend to have a district where parents don't support education financially," Hanover High School Principal Deborah Gillespie said.
Hanover High and Lebanon High School spent approximately $2,000 more on each student annually -- at $9,913 and $9,219 respectively -- than allotted by the state's the minimum budget. This extra funding comes from taxpayers in the school districts. Each year, the school has to write a budget that is then approved or refuted by the voters at the annual district meeting.
For some schools, passing this budget can be difficult because of the economic burdens the region already faces.
"Part of the problem ... is that we live in a community that's paying a lot in property taxes compared to other districts," Principal Paul Couture of Stevens High said. "It's easy to conclude that Claremont doesn't care about education and is looking to the state" for funding.
Although Stevens High has not seen a substantial change after the New Hampshire Supreme Court lawsuit, Claremont taxpayers did see a decrease in their property tax after the 1997 ruling. The state funding that Claremont received was not originally intended for the school, but for tax cuts, according to Couture.
"Claremont's going to have to get the money it needs in order to make the tax rate the same as the state," Couture said. The lawsuit was implemented to make economics more equitable, not necessarily better education.
The Fall of Joy
Historically in New Hampshire, public schools are funded primarily from the property taxes of large institutions and corporations. This has been changing in recent years, as industry has been moving out of the state.
When Couture first came to Claremont in 1975, "Joy Manufacturing was the biggest employer in town ... until they went out of business." Since Joy Manufacturing owned property, industry was used to pay for education.
Now, however, "Claremont is property poor," Couture said. When industry packs up, "someone's got to absorb [the cost of education] because the need doesn't disappear."
The cost is absorbed by Claremont taxpayers, who now receive tax subsidies from the government in order to reduce their property taxes to the state average.
The taxpayers later decide in district meetings whether or not they can afford to use the money from government tax cuts for public school education.
This spring, taxpayers at Claremont's district meeting approved Stevens High's 2003-4 school budget, which included faculty raises for the upcoming year.
The 2003-4 school year budget for Mascoma High School, however, was voted down.
This decision means that Mascoma will have to work on a default budget, so Mascoma cannot implement any new programs or raises, besides those already contracted -- for renovations, for instance.
"I think it's just that money's tight with people, you know. People feel like they can't afford to have their taxes go up, so they voted anything down," said Stella Butterfield, the assistant superintendent of Mascoma.
In addition to the economic slump of many regions in Vermont and New Hampshire, legislation that provides increased funding for education is also difficult to pass because of the area's demographics.
In the early 1980s, 53 percent of taxpayers were families with school-going students; now the number is reduced to 28 percent, said Patrick Andrew, principal of Mascoma High School.
"People were more willing to support schools because it meant helping their families."
Education administrators across the board agree that the tax system in New Hampshire will have to be revised in order to be equitable.
It is important "to figure out a funding system to ensure that, first and foremost, every kid is on an equal playing field," said Jeff Spiegal, principal of Hanover Street School in the Lebanon School District.
"New Hampshire has kind of hit its head in the fan with its tax structure," said John Aubin, assistant superintendent for business of the Hanover and Dresden district.
"It hasn't supported education and health as well as some of its neighboring states."
Another Alternative
Across the river, New Hampshire is finding what may be a viable model for tax reform in Vermont's Act 60.
Act 60 would implement a higher sales tax: an increase from 5 to 6 percent. Revenue from this tax would be spent on the public school system.
In New Hampshire, Couture advocates a broad-based tax, which would include taxes other than property taxes, but is wary of the sales tax because "Claremont's livelihood right now is Vermont. Why do Vermont shoppers come to Claremont? Because it's tax free."
Many Vermont businesses oppose Act 60, saying that a sales tax increase will drive more shoppers to New Hampshire, especially hurtful for border towns.
Aubin downplayed business concerns that surrounds the proposed legislation. "That's just a caricature of Act 60," he said.
Most education administrators interviewed by The Dartmouth supported the concept behind Act 60.
"I think it's a step in the right direction," Speigal said of Act 60. "I find it interesting that the richer communities, the ones that were taking advantage of what I think is an inequitable situation, are the ones that are screaming the loudest" about the proposed legislation.
For now, schools project their ambitions onto the future.
"If we had more funding, we'd run more programs for dropout prevention," said Harris. "I'd like to get that 4 percent that's otherwise been dropping out."
The wealthier Hanover Street School is more ambitious. "If it's up to me, and I had tons of money, I would have a small farm attached to this school." Spiegal said.
