Statistics can be a funny thing
They say that you can make statistics say anything. I will let you, the reader, be the judge.
In a recent letter to the editor Allen Davis, a candidate for State Representative, repeated talking points created by the Nation Education Association. I have quoted those points followed by the reality, sourced from the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.
“New Hampshire is 50th in the nation for state education funding.” NH actually ranks 7th in per-pupil spending. The money comes from local property rather than state taxes. We all pay both state and local taxes.
“The State lost 6.74% of its teachers in a single year.” We are losing students at a far greater rate than we are losing teachers. From the 2011-2012 school year to the 2025-26 school year, K-12 public school enrollment fell by 30,483 students, for a decline of 16%. The number of public-school teachers fell by 849, for a decline of 5.7%.
“The number of students per teacher increased by 5.66%, one of the highest in the country.” In the current 2025-26 school year, the ratio was down to one teacher for every 11.3 students. Only New York, Vermont and Washington, DC have lower student-teacher ratios.
As the numbers of teachers fell by 5.7% other categories of public-school employees declined at a lower rate. The number of specialists and librarians actually rose. Maintaining high staffing levels forces districts to stretch limited dollars over larger numbers of employees, reducing the amount of compensation available for each employee. The financial challenges our schools face are not due to a lack of funding. They are due to a misallocation of your tax dollars.
Allen writes that we need to “increase state spending for our public schools.” My question to you is how much money is enough?