Former teacher running for Statehouse to push for adequate education funding

LACONIA — Marcia Hayward was born and raised in the city, attending public schools and eventually teaching science at Laconia High School.

After a lifelong career in education, Hayward’s passion for public education funding is a driving force behind her campaign for state representative for Belknap District 5. Although this is Hayward’s first time running for public office, she has been politically engaged and active for years.

Hayward is running alongside Democrats Lois Kessin, Denise Riley and incumbent Rep. Charlie St. Clair (D-Laconia), who will all go through the primary Tuesday, Sept. 8. They'll face Republicans Timothy Minor, Cody Pfaff, Paul Rossi and incumbent Rep. Mike Bordes (R-Laconia), also the city's mayor, in the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Four candidates will earn seats in the Statehouse for a two-year term, representing Wards 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Hayward will fight for one of those seats in a district historically dominated by Republicans.

Who she is

A native of Laconia, Hayward is no stranger to issues most prominent in the city. Through her career in education, she listened and collaborated constantly. Her time spent as a science teacher at LHS gave Hayward the ability to think and work analytically, and with data.

After 18 years teaching science in Laconia, Hayward moved on to Belmont, where she served as principal of Belmont High School for 10 years. She led the school to being named New Hampshire’s “High School of Excellence” in 2004.

Following her retirement in 2007, Hayward continued to work in public education as an adjunct professor at Concord and Laconia community colleges for another decade.

Hayward now serves as chair of the Laconia Zoning Board of Adjustment, hearing appeals and special exceptions to the city’s zoning rules.

Hayward has long been frustrated with local representatives who vote according to party, not in the best interest of those they represent in Concord.

“Government is by the people, for the people, not by the party, for the party,” Hayward said. “You listen to all the voices in this community, no matter what their political affiliation is, and I can’t say that’s been true for the other representatives.”

Hayward’s strong roots and love for her city fueled her frustration with local representation. Before throwing her hat in the ring this year, Hayward has consistently been politically engaged.

“I have always been one that when I've wanted to express an opinion or ask a question, I have always reached out to my representative, whether it's at the federal level, the state level, or the local level, and I expect a response,” Hayward said. “When I have dealt with the representatives from Laconia, it's usually silence.”

Hayward gave credit to Bordes, who she said will respond to her about her political concerns.

“So, you need to be responsive to your constituency, and I don't find that our representatives have done that.”

As a citizen, to hold local representatives accountable, Hayward would track their votes, specifically about school vouchers. Hayward would email representatives who continuously voted "yes," and ask them if they had done their homework. She thought, many times, they were simply voting in accordance with their party.

“I think Concord could use more of these skills, as well as having a public educator in the room when making decisions about public schools.”

If elected, Hayward would approach conversations with an open mind, she said, regardless of party affiliation.

Public education, state funding

Hayward is running to represent the residents of Belknap District 5 because of three major concerns: having the highest reliance on property taxes in the country which burdens taxpayers, New Hampshire being ranked last in the nation for state support for public education, and legislation in Concord limiting emphasis on local government.

Hayward thinks current representatives are not working toward addressing these problems.

“It’s time for new representation that will direct the state on a new path.”

Hayward said since the original Claremont decisions in the mid-1990s, the state has not followed through on their obligation to “adequately and equitably fund public education.” Hayward said currently, taxpayers across the state pay 72% of public education funding, while the state covers around 20%. The difference is made up with federal dollars.

Using data from the Department of Education, Hayward compared the three major branches of the state educational system and their costs. Public schools, charter schools, and vouchers, also known as Educational Freedom Accounts, which are state-funded grants to pay for "alternative education,” such as homeschooling, or private school tuition.

There are 7,514 students enrolled in charter schools in the Granite State. The state pays $9,086 per student. There are 10,708 students enrolled in the EFA program, where the state pays $4,963 per student. There are 148,918 students enrolled in public schools. At the end of the day, after funds are distributed through the Statewide Education Property Tax, or SWEPT, along with targeted grants, public schools get $3,047 per student.

“Gov. [Kelly] Ayotte and Republicans say they spend enough on public education. How is $3,047 enough?” Hayward asked. “Public education is the backbone of the educational system.”

Hayward said there were four specific bills recently vetoed by House Republicans which “killed every option for sustainable change to New Hampshire adequate funding for K-12 public education.”

One was House Bill 503 which, among other things, sought to reestablish the Interest and Dividends Tax, to put money into the Education Trust Fund. The bill was defeated on March 6, 2025. If passed, Laconia would have received over $11 million in funding for public education and local property tax relief.

On top of this, the Educational Freedom Accounts program is expanding through new legislation. When the program was introduced a few years ago, Hayward took note of how many people were actually choosing an “alternative educational experience,” and looked at enrollment numbers in the Laconia School District for the 2025-26 school year. She found 3.6% left to go elsewhere, and 96.4% chose public education.

“It is important to emphasize that Laconia residents choose public education, but our current representatives do not support their choice,” Hayward said. “They are supporting the choice of the 3%.”

What’s happening in Concord?

Hayward described New Hampshire’s high property taxes as “crushing,” and emphasized one of her top priorities if elected is property tax relief. She thinks this goes hand in hand with public education funding. Hayward said according to the New Hampshire Municipal Association, in the past decade, the state has downshifted over $4 billion to local communities. Struggling to deal with these costs, communities have few options, reverting to raising funds through property taxes.

Hayward’s primary plan for tackling the issue is to get the state’s portion equivalent to the national average, with the state funding 45% of public education costs. She thinks, recently, Republicans have been making it worse, cutting significant revenue sources, such as the Business, Meals and Rooms, and Interest and Dividends taxes.

Hayward pointed out over the next two years, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is facing a $51 million reduction, the largest in 30 years. As they are responsible for Medicaid reimbursements, supplemental nutrition benefits, mental health benefits, and child services, state residents will feel the impact.

“Look at all the people that are going to be impacted, that need those services. And those services are used by Democrats, Republicans, independents. So, we need to make sure there’s enough revenue to support the services our citizens need,” Hayward said.

The Free State Project is a political movement aimed at governmental protection solely of “life, liberty, and property” by repealing firearm restrictions, eliminating state drug laws, and dismantling government programs, which is intertwined with public school funding. Hayward said she is against this, and believes the Free State agenda is simply designed to “undermine public education.”

“This is where we're losing some of our local voice. They push for state level zoning and land use policies. I know this, I chair the Laconia zoning board,” Hayward said. “I see the mandates coming down from the state with regards to zoning, and they push for regulating at a state level, local housing, zoning, and land use.”

Looking ahead

Hayward emphasized “transparency across the board” is key in dealing with public education funding, as well as navigating issues as a state representative.

“If you're going to have public dollars, it should be for public schools,” Hayward said.

She said if the state will not increase funding, as much as she rejects the Educational Freedom Accounts program, she would vote for it if the people she represented wanted her to.

“If my constituents say, ‘Hey, we want you to support Educational Freedom Accounts,’ then I do it, because that's what the constituency wants,” Hayward said. “Even though it kills me personally, if that's what they want, that's what you do. But you have to have accountability. And everybody's got to be on the same playing field.”

This goes back full circle, as Hayward has worked tirelessly for years to hold local representatives accountable for their votes in the Statehouse.

“Our constituents rely on the fact that we're going to be collaborative, that we're going to find common ground,” Hayward said. “And you have to go in with that attitude that you're going to be open-minded, and try to find common ground. And I think it starts with just the representatives that come from Laconia.”

If elected, Hayward said she would “work every single day for the citizens of Laconia.”