New Hampshire’s public schools have problems. No matter how much money we pour into them, the results get worse. Money, therefore, mathematically, economically, academically, and scientifically, is not the answer. Money, practically speaking, leads to worse outcomes.
This fact aligns two problems in a common solution. Schools are the reason why property taxes are so high. These high property taxes are aligned with declining achievement. To which we can add some serious public concern over the unconstitutional manner in which courts have assumed responsibility for deciding how and how much they should be funded.
Since the Claremont Decision, New Hampshire’s courts have tried to dictate to the legislature and towns how we cherish education. They did a shit job of it. The costs are driving people out of their homes, and half the kids can’t even read. It is also a job that isn’t even theirs. In fact, the current state of the New Hampshire Constitution does not authorize anyone with the power to fund a local school.
It is a mess that can’t be fixed until we get the matter before courts not run by the cabal of interests who wrecked them in the first place. We need to stop funding buildings and failed systems and return the power back to the towns and the people.
The legislature, like the courts, has no constitutional authority to fund schools, but until you fix it, nothing will change. Taxes will go up, achievement will go down.
Save Our Schools NH wants to help.
Our Goal
We do NOT seek to defund schools. We wish to fix them by empowering New Hampshire residents to have a voice that ensures our education system delivers real results for our children.
- Return authority to parents, towns and communities.
- Stop Out-Of-Control unconstitutional education taxation.
- Rebuild our schools with a focus on academics, excellence, and accountability.
How We Reach Our Goals
By empowering New Hampshire residents to file RSA 76:16 abatements that challenge rising property taxes and provide a push for real change.
Your secret weapon, according to Save Our Schools NH, is the abatement process. Towns and cities must refund any illegally or unconstitutionally collected tax, and the school tax, as currently collected, has no constitutional basis or support.
What makes the NH education tax unconstitutional?
The New Hampshire Constitution states that taxes must be raised with the consent of the people. In 1968, an amendment took away the town’s authority to raise taxes on education, but no amendment ever gave that authority to the state.
The Claremont decision created this tax through judicial usurpation, not through the lawful amendment process.
In other words, there is no legal, lawful, constitutionally supported means to fund a public school. Save Our Schools NH suggests you ask for a refund.
Even a few, or a few hundred, abatement requests will send a message, but thousands piled up at the court’s door will demand action and attention to the problem. One that will likely need to find its way outside or skewed, and many would argue, a corrupted state court system, before the issue is addressed.
It starts with you.
We have to fix the broken funding system and then the broken curricula that refuse to allocate a few dollars to what they are constitutionally obligated to do, not to the distractions that have led us to where we are: exorbitant costs and lousy results.
More money leads to worse outcomes, and it’s your money. You aren’t funding education. The results prove that. And the collection method is clearly illegal and unconstitutional, but nothing changes until you change it.
Note: Per our FAQ, we are not lawyers and do not give legal advice.
