Funding Archives - Granite Grok

Cartoon of a woman archer and aman tossing paper airplanes

UNDERWOOD: Goals, Not Gestures

April 7, 2026 Ian Underwood

Marco Rubio testified before Congress recently, where he dropped this little gem in a reply to Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York: We have to have a State Department that can deliver on a foreign policy that is rooted in the national interest of the United States. To defend the national interest of the United … Read more

DYER: These Cost Shocks Are Pushing Nashua to The Breaking Point

November 3, 2025 Allison Dyer

After receiving the full ESSER I, II, and III expenditure files, I’ve completed a detailed and source-cited analysis of Nashua’s COVID-era funding, current fiscal management, and the broader demographic trends that have been repeatedly ignored. What emerges is a pattern of short-term financial decisions, politicized narratives, and resistance to data-driven planning that has left taxpayers … Read more

UNDERWOOD: Schools- The Most Bang for The Least Bucks

October 1, 2025 Ian Underwood

When you talk to legislators about political reform, whether it’s in the schools or anywhere else, they are often interested in making small changes — largely because those seem to be the only kind anyone thinks can be made. (The technical psychological term for this is learned helplessness.) I’ve been thinking for a while now … Read more

Special Ed Shortfall or Overspending?

January 19, 2025 Lori Safford

Good Morning, Commissioner Edelblut, Senators Abbas and Lang, I am writing to you about the Special Education shortfalls in our state. As an older special needs mom with strong connections to the NH disability community and after reading the following article and getting a message from my Senator, Daryl Abbas, I have some major concerns. … Read more

Less Local Control For Public Schools in New Hampshire?

November 29, 2023 Ann Marie Banfield

A recent ruling was issued by the New Hampshire Superior Court on state funding of public schools in New Hampshire. Legislators pride themselves on local control when it comes to decisions that should be made by local communities. But if more funding is required by the state, will that mean that they expect to have more of a say in what happens in your school?

Fed up with Schools Disrespecting Students and Parents

March 11, 2025May 6, 2023 Howard Coffman

I must admit that I am fed up and tired of reading about how these schools continue to disrespect students and parents. Also, to the same extent, how women and girls are bullied and abused in competitive athletics. Where are the women who burned their bras in the sixties? Did you not teach your … Read more

Money cash greed original Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Four Simple Rules for Funding Education

March 29, 2022 Ian Underwood

To the extent that society has any legitimate role at all in taking money from some people in order to give it to others, there are some rules that really ought to be followed when doing it.

Endless Lawsuits to Funnel Limitless Amounts of Money to Failing Government Schools

May 1, 2021

With the realization that many of our state and national elections have been determined by pre-programmed ballot counting machine voter fraud, people who now want to get involved need a basic set of documents for research.

Nashua Alderman Suggest Cutting Budget for Right to Know Requests

April 30, 2021April 30, 2021 Op-Ed

Good evening,

My Name is Albert Todd and I live at <redacted> in Nashua. I am writing this message in response to the Nashua Alderman Board that I joined and watched on 4/27/2021. During this board meeting, many interesting topics were discussed but one struck me as odd and alarming. That is when the Board started discussing a reduction in funding for Right to Know Requests.

How NOT to Think About School Funding (Part 2)

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021 Ian Underwood

Previously, I discussed the idea, popular in some quarters, that if a parent withdraws his child from a public school in order to send him to a private school, the parent ought to reimburse the district for lost adequacy funds. Today I’d like to discuss a complementary idea, also popular in some quarters, that if … Read more

Granite Crock: ‘Don’t confuse us with the facts!’

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021 Ian Underwood

Long ago, a Congressman from my home state gained notoriety when he said, while defending Richard Nixon, ‘Don’t confuse me with the facts.’ I was reminded of this upon reading an article that Steve forwarded to me from the Granite Crock site, which was written to ‘debunk’ something I’d written.

School Funding: Lower Taxes, Same Student Achievement

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 Ian Underwood

If you had the Triangle of Light (from Tomb Raider), you could just go back in time to 1998, the year of the Claremont II decision. You don’t have that, but you have something almost as good — a filing cabinet.

School funding: Viewing problems as opportunities

February 5, 2021February 5, 2021 Ian Underwood

Remember that moment when Mulan figures out how to climb the pole? To do it, she has to change the way she views the two weights. What seems at first to be a problem (‘How do I carry these weights with me as I climb?’) turns out to be an opportunity (‘I can use these … Read more

The Magic of Per-Student Cost

February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 Ian Underwood

Are your state representatives smarter than fifth-graders? Here’s a word problem that even a fifth-grader should be able to solve: A boat ferries passengers across a lake. Ten people want to ride it together. The captain says: It costs me $100 to run the boat, so you’ll have to pay an average of $10 each. … Read more

School funding: What problem are we trying to solve?

January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 Ian Underwood

There is an old Chinese saying that if you chase two rabbits, both will escape. Before making decisions about what to spend, and how to get the money, and from whom, we have to decide what we’re trying to do: Educate children? Provide daycare and other social services to parents? Create job security for teachers? … Read more

Next time NH Democrats start yammering about “Dark Money” in campaigns, remember this:

December 22, 2020 Skip

Note the last question below: LEFT’S NON-PROFIT FUNDING LEAD KEEPS GROWING: Michael Watson and Shane Devine of the Capital Research Center (CRC) update through the 2018 campaign the center’s ongoing study comparing charitable funding resources for the Left and Right and finds the former’s advantage continues to expand. “In the 2017–2018 cycle, the 301 groups supported by … Read more

Gov. Threatens to Withhold Funding to Counties That Ignore His COVID Orders

December 6, 2020 Steve MacDonald

Remember when Arizona tried to enforce Federal Immigration laws the Feds were ignoring. The Obama administration sued the state? How about when President Trump told Democrat Governors he’d withhold federal money if they obstructed Federal Immigration Enforcement?

Court Rules States Can Exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid Funding

November 26, 2020 Steve MacDonald

Are you tired of your tax dollars going to pay for abortion? You are not alone. But that does not include the Democrat Party or Planned Parenthood. They care a lot. And they just took another gutshot in court.

Sununu’s Lockdown Agenda Surges Just In Time For Election

October 30, 2020 Doris Hohensee

Sununu issues two more Emergency Orders and another Executive Order extending the shutdown in advance of the Elections.

Where are the Police? Crime is up People are Unhappy.

September 17, 2020 Steve MacDonald

Where are the Police? That is the question of the hour in Minneapolis. The city has made itself an object lesson in Democrat leadership or lack thereof. Minneapolis is the home of the late George Floyd. After his death the all Democrat Minneapolis City Council went on the political offensive.