Senate Bill 4.01.09 Passes: Schools to be Adequately Funded
April 1st, 2009From the Keene Sentinel:
Governor Lynch signed into law today legislation guaranteeing adequate funding for the state’s schools, riding a wave of bipartisan responsibility unlike anything seen before in New Hampshire politics.
“For too many years our state has pitted town against town, school against school,” the governor said at a press conference after the bill’s signing. “New Hampshire’s outmoded and unfair system of funding schools, in which a town which may have been economically viable a century ago when it was based around a textile factory badly needed to be overhauled. Today we have taken the steps needed to make sure that every student in New Hampshire will receive the education he or she deserves.”
The new law puts into effect the provisions of the 40th Amendment to the State Constitution, passed last year, which enacted a state-wide income tax specifically targeted for education. Under the new law, schools will receive the funding for an education suitable for the next century, with an emphasis on proper facilitates, reduced class sizes, teaching solid skills, and internet and technology access for every child.
“We’re very pleased,” reported Peter Bragdon, the Republican Leader in the State Senate. “For too long, the Republican party focused only tax cuts as an engine to drive economic growth. It’s become clear that the fastest and best way to grow industry is an educated population who will earn high salaries and support the industries of the future. This is a great day for the state.”
Terie Norelli, the Democratic Speaker of the House, agreed. “It’s very clear that tying funding to specific programs to advance a point of view was not working. By tying the money to the student, without a host of strings attached, we’ve managed to streamline the process and make it possible for schools to quickly grow and change, without jumping through hoops to be funded.”
Reaction from the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers, long vehement opponents of progress in the state, was rueful. “There’s no doubt that those who can afford it will now be required to support the common good,” said Ed Naile, the group’s founder. “It’s gonna be a lot harder to cling blindly to a single idea, ignoring all possible repercussions, with an educated population. It’s possible the false positions we espouse might be brought to light.”
The law is the latest in a series of unprecedented effects to keep the United States at the forefront of enterprise and productivity. Together with the abolition of scoring schools based on state mandated tests, requiring all students to demonstrate and document learning through an individual portfolio that meets national standards, and increased availability and quality of internet and broadband technology nearly at South Korean levels, the United States continues to edge closer to the kind of investment in the future already taking place in third world nations.
“There’s a great deal more to be done,” Governor Lynch reported today. “We’re giving students the opportunity to do anything they want, but they need to push themselves. It’s going to take a concerted societal focus on hard work, individual responsibility, and commitment to excellence to really bring the state, and the nation, where we need to go. Parents are going to need to start demanding excellence from their kids, holding them accountable, and the young men and women of the state are going to need to start reaching for the American dream, instead of expecting it to be handed to them.”
Don’t I wish. Happy April Fools.
