It’s that time of year again. Property tax bills are arriving at homes all over New Hampshire and property owners – some after lifting themselves off of the floor – are wondering what they’re actually getting for all that money paid.
About two thirds of our property taxes go toward the funding of kindergarten through Grade 12 education. New Hampshire K-12 education costs about $1.5 billion a year.
The state pays for about 22 percent, while local property owners (and renters) pay 72 percent.
Washington? The federal government only kicks in 6 percent. Yet liberal Washington politicians and bureaucrats continue seeking control over our children’s education.
While the majority of education costs are funded at the local level, Washington seeks to maintain heavy influence over K-12 education in all states including New Hampshire by using the allure of increased federal dollars directed to local schools in exchange for complying with various “recommendations” and “guidelines” which almost always ends up with schools being hit with higher overall costs and bearing little to no positive results.
For instance, the White House decided that local school districts were unable to figure out how or what to teach students and lured schools to move away from local control by launching “Race To The Top” funding, which rewarded schools that fell in line with reforms favored by the federal Department Of Education.
While “Race To The Top” didn’t require the adoption of Common Core Standards, awards were indeed given to the school districts that implemented them. The result? Funding was ultimately abandoned with little to show for it.
Later, there was an opportunity for New Hampshire to reject increased federal interference into curriculum and testing, yet our state moved even further away from local control by opting in to the Smarter Balanced Consortium.
We saw increased meddling into the school lunch program, creating new rules disguised as nutritional “upgrades” across the country which, again, used the incentive of increased federal dollars to gain compliance. The result of a push by Washington to control what not only goes into our children’s minds, but also literally what foods they eat.
Most recently, the federal government threatened to withhold funds from schools that did not comply with “guidance” to schools about which restroom and locker room facilities were appropriate for students. Interestingly, their “guidance” was limited to school bathrooms, rather than the facilities in all federally-funded buildings.
We have to wonder, what’s next? I don’t mind that there are differing opinions on these issues. I just disagree with them.
What I do mind is letting the federal government hold such an intrusive degree of control over our schools. And, what do we get for letting them exercise such control over our K-12 education? It turns out, very little. Despite the lure of more federal money to our schools, overall costs continue to soar as students, parents and teachers continue to struggle.
It is time to take our schools back. These are our children; these are our school boards.
I recently spoke with a member of a local school board. They commented that most of the work that they do has little to do with the education of our children. Most of the volunteer effort they put in is focused on trying to comply with the myriad of federal and state regulations placed upon the system.
It is just wrong.
We all want our kids to get a great education. Letting Washington mandate how that is done is clearly not working. It is time for the people who are paying for K-12 education to have a real voice at the table. We don’t need the “tail wagging the dog.” As your next governor I will stand up, I will speak out, and I will fight back. The tenth Amendment to the Constitution gives us the right, and I will use it.
Rep. Frank Edelblut represents Hillsborough District 38.