The Valley News is a reliable member of the progressive handmaiden media. They toe the right lines and nurture the approved narratives. They also give voice to the troglodytes that, in most outlets of this shade, are a way to express the publisher’s political preference at someone else’s expense.
One letter writer I stumbled across (who appears to be Linda Tanner, Democrat NH House rep, Sullivan County District 5, though that isn’t revealed in print) was outraged at the election results because the Democrat Candidate (Joyce Craig) would have fired the Dept of Ed Commissioner Frank Edelblut. Edellut is the bane of good ed funding policy (according to Democrats and a few Republicans), and his removal would have (wait for it) prevented the downshifting of these costs on local towns.
This commissioner is a major proponent of school choice, a national movement to privatize schools and destroy and diminish public education. The consequence of him not putting that one-third of the money into “catastrophic aid” (often costing tens to hundred of thousands) within the education budget is that the burden and cost is now downshifted to you in the local property taxes you pay. While Democratic state representatives like Rep. Hope Damon have been presenting bills to increase the state’s funding for special education, Republicans have consistently voted “no.” At the same time, they are voting “yes” to expand the give-away of funds for school vouchers, projected at $28 million for the next year. Who pays? We do! Call your state representative and senator and tell them to stop downshifting these costs to our property taxes and to start this state budget with adequate funds for special education and our local public schools.
I can’t say what Frank has or has not done except that he is in the unenviable position of not being able to please everyone or sometimes anyone. He is not some woke left-wing psycho, and I think he’s doing about as well as he can give where he is, at the pleasure of culturally woke Chris Sununu. He likely has nothing to fear job-wise from Kelly Ayotte, though she may have different marching orders. And everyone can always do better. I suspect that Ayotte will be less woke on the girls sports thing, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Having said all that, the pull quote isn’t necessary to refute the idea that Governor Joyce Craig would make local living less expensive (no downshifting). Craig, assuming more Democrats in the legislature, would ram costs down our throats faster than shit through a goose. There would be a push to expand the state-wide education tax and add other broad-based taxes. The idea that this would reduce local taxes would be revealed too late, as it always is, so the idea that any Democrat governor makes local living less expensive needs only to look at Vermont.
Same Demcorats, different state. They took their veto-proof majority (the one they just lost) and made a local living in Vermont intolerably expensive. At this point, Vermont’s best bet is stasis – meaning it doesn’t get worse, but Phil Scott is popular, not governor for life. And he’s a bit moderate as Republicans go. That state is a train wreck and the template for New Hampshire Dems.
There is no scenario where a Democrat governor makes local living in New Hampshire anything but more expensive. As for the education funding piece, money does not make for better education outcomes, and until local voters start defunding local schools and forging school boards to prioritize education over everything else, it just money down a hole for what Ian Underwood rightly describes as a high priced local community center when some of the attendees accidentally learn to read and do math, but fewer than half, and often barely a third.
Taxpayer-propped-up public education as an experiment is a failure. Still, Democrats like Linda Tanner rely so much on teachers union boots and bucks to get into and stay in office that they are willing to continue to sacrifice children’s education and their future to this political laundromat.
Local school budgets are out of hand, and neither state nor federal money can fix what’s broken. Feeding that problem only makes it worse.
