Shayna Hughes: Education system in New Hampshire is failing all children

To The Daily Sun,

I appreciate the letters about education proficiency in New Hampshire and would like to add: Education in the state of NH is failing all of our children, regardless of where they live.

The difference is if readers live in a community that can financially contribute.

In 2023, the median household income in Hanover was $165,000/year, with families averaging $265,000/year. The median household income in Laconia of that same year is $68,000/year. The adequacy aid being provided to every school district in NH does not fulfill its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education.

So if there is a school district with a high poverty rate, that’s getting an unconstitutional amount of funding for their education services, how do readers not expect their educational outcomes to decline? In Hanover, where most families are making an average of $265,000 a year, the families can provide financial assistance to the school in the areas where the state should be funding more, or afford additional services. In Laconia, most families rely on assistance themselves, and cannot contribute to new playground equipment, building upgrades, or up to date textbooks.

These differences directly impact education outcomes, and were not mentioned when comparing proficiency scores, yet are important. However; I think the community should question some of the things that school districts allocate their money to, Laconia included.

Laconia should have never accepted a turf football field if they weren’t going to use the funds they receive when renting it out, to maintain it. Instead; the school district allocated thousands of budget dollars to re-turf the field. How school districts allocate funds to things other than academics, should be more closely monitored. Schools become unsafe if you don’t financially prioritize teachers and paras, and fund extra-curricular activities instead.

Shayna Hughes

Laconia