Costs Archives - Granite Grok

BANFIELD: Special Ed Dilemma, How to Lower the Cost

October 9, 2025 Ann Marie Banfield

There are many reasons behind the escalating costs in special education. It’s easy to blame the federal government for failing to fund its promised share under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but that’s only part of the story. There are serious, fixable issues at the local level that are driving costs through the … Read more

Merrimack School DIstrict web site screen grab altered

SEL is Draining Tax Dollars from the Merrimack School Budget

March 23, 2024 Ann Marie Banfield

Social and Emotional Learning is the latest fad in public education. SEL is considered Tier 1 in a three-tiered mental health framework for students attending public schools. Money for this initiative came through a federal grant several years ago, but as those funds dried up guess who is left to fund these initiatives? The local taxpayers.

New Hampshire’s Cost per Pupil Continues to Rise

January 7, 2023 Op-Ed

CONCORD, NH (Jan. 6, 2023) — New data shows that New Hampshire’s average cost per student is shifting closer to typical trends following a substantial spike during the pandemic, however the costs are still rising more quickly than they have historically.

Another Word for Life Is Risk and You Can’t Eliminate It – Part 2

December 22, 2021 Skip

Time slipped away from me – Part 1 of this is now almost 2 months old. Refresher that it was about Treehugger wanting to reduce traffic deaths to zero and I pointed out that it is impossible. Traffic deaths, in context of the US population (40K / year) are so low in a population of … Read more

Facebook Doodlings – For Those That Haven’t Figured This Out Yet – Downshifting of Spending Is Meaningless

December 9, 2020 Skip

I just can’t understand why the citizenry of NH (or anywhere else, for that matter) hasn’t figured out that when politicians start talking about “downshifting” of costs from a higher level of government to a lower one is nothing but HOGWASH!!!!

Alderman Say No But Nashua Taxpayers’ Will Be Paying for This Proposal for Many Years

December 9, 2020December 9, 2020 Laura Colquhoun

It seems like some of Nashua’s Aldermen are telling residents that they will not have to pay for the Performing Arts Center, however, this is a lie.

A Union Can Engage in Activity an Individual Cannot

September 8, 2020
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A union can engage in activity an individual union official cannot, as a federal employee. Any federal employee with involvement in political activity will want to do some research. The suggestion is: do it before moving out and pursuing a political passion.

Data Point – COVID-19 Mortality cost vs Economy cost

May 18, 2020 Skip

The cumulative costs through May 16, 2020 were $9,826 per household ($1.2 trillion in aggregate). 16 percent of these are mortality costs (valued at $4.3 million VSL; over the past seven days, the percentage was 16). The rest are the market and nonmarket costs of shutting down the economy, for the categories documented by Mulligan (2020). The costs above do not necessarily … Read more

Quick Thought: The Educational-Industrial Complex always has this as a ready answer. ENOUGH ALREADY!

May 15, 2020May 15, 2020 Skip

And it plays out over and over and over again. I’ve blogged a number of times: I overheard two teachers (who were also union reps) at a Town Meeting a few years mutter between themselves:

How to Help Your Small Business Survive Lockdown

May 14, 2020 Guest Contributor

For many across the United States, the lockdown has been a challenge – emotionally, socially, and commercially. With so few people heading into stores, and fewer trading with your small business online, you’re finding that you’re unable to support your workers and your business interests, and you’re quickly losing profits and slipping into debt. In … Read more

To the Editor

April 18, 2020

Today, a letter to the editor came to my inbox. I am not the editor nor do I play one on TV. Probably the correct move is to send this to the editor but it seems pretty straight forward so I’m going out on a limb to do this here. My belief is the content has merit and hopefully, you will agree too:

Perspective on Government Imposed Shutdown

March 31, 2020March 30, 2020

It is time for some perspective on government imposed shutdown. The President made an announcement. He is aiming toward Easter Sunday as the point at which to begin getting the economy going again. This is triggering heavy opposition. The debate is about how much destruction to the economy to inflict. That is simply a stupid … Read more

Recycling – I’ll say it: it’s just Economic Insanity

January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 Skip

I’ve been blogging about what has been going on in my home town that just put up the “Scott Dunn monument to Economic Illiteracy” and the Mandatory Recycling mandate in order to make “The Plan” work. You can’t use the new Recycle Center (“RC”), just built for the amount of $1.3 Million dollar, unless YOU … Read more

“…costs Gilford $95 per ton for trash removal and $235 per ton for “recyclables”

January 3, 2020 Op-Ed

I’m writing this follow up letter on the eve of the new Gilford Solid Waste Center’s opening. After my last letter, Town Administrator Scott Dunn found my email address and sent me a sheaf of material on the subject. Unfortunately, I feel that I understand the situation even less now. Mr. Dunn confirmed my statement … Read more

Why We Need a Sensible Approach to Healthcare

October 31, 2019 Third Party Content

Healthcare in the United States Is Struggling, but We Need a Sensible Solution The political discourse surrounding healthcare in the United States is downright embarrassing. Conservative politicians on the right seem reluctant to consider even the most basic progressive changes to healthcare, fearing they’ll give more power to the government or waste taxpayers’ money. Liberal … Read more

GrokTV Event: Ovide Lamontagne House Event Q&A-Q5: How to make healthcare costs more consumer friendly?

September 26, 2018February 26, 2012 Skip

It seemed that healthcare was on the mind of the voters that gathered at the home of NH State Senator Jeanne Forrester who hosted an event for Ovide Lamontagne ( who is running to be the NH GOP nominee to be the next NH Governor). This one, for a change, from ‘Grok friend Henry, asked … Read more

The End Of The “We Pay Taxes Too” Argument?

September 26, 2018March 23, 2011 Steve MacDonald

The only way it could ever be equal, is if we all paid the same taxes, and taxpayers paid nothing extra for benefits and retirement; you would have to fund pay all of your share of both at the same rates as the average private citizen.