O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s Your Turn.

Manchester — Our city is caught in the crosshairs of a growing fiscal and constitutional crisis in public education. The state’s failure to fully fund its legal responsibilities is hurting students, taxpayers, and entire communities.

What’s Changed — and What’s at Stake

In June, the New Hampshire Supreme Court found that the state’s school-funding system grossly underfunds base adequacy — the required minimum contribution the state must make to each child’s public education.

In August, the Rockingham County Superior Court ruled that differentiated aid (including special education and other high-need supports) must more than double to meet constitutional standards.

The result? Some school districts are already failing financially; others are teetering. Unless the state steps up, consequences will deepen.

Why Manchester Can’t Wait

Manchester already faces high pressures on its school budget: to maintain quality, safety, staffing, and special services, costs keep rising. Without proper state support, those costs fall increasingly on property owners and families.

This is not just about fairness: it’s about constitutional duty. The state is legally obligated to provide adequate funding; leaving that uncorrected undermines public education everywhere — including here in Manchester.

What the Legislature Must Do

It’s critical that the upcoming legislative session treat all education funding bills seriously — including ones that failed last year. The facts have changed. The courts have spoken. The stakes are too high to let prior timing or inertia block good ideas.

Call to Action

If you live, work, or raise children in Manchester, here’s how you can help:

• Contact your representatives. Tell them you expect them to demand full debate and voting on all education funding bills this session.
• Write to the House Rules Committee (chair and members), urging them to allow consideration of all proposed education-funding legislation, regardless of its prior status.
• Share your story. Whether you’re a parent, homeowner, educator, senior, or taxpayer — speak about the burdens you experience, the quality of schooling you want for your children, and the unfairness of the current system.
• Support local coverage of this issue by Manchester media (like Manchester Ink Link) — stay informed, share articles, encourage public discussion.

The Bottom Line

This is not a distant problem. It’s local. It’s real. It affects your taxes, your children’s classrooms, and your community’s future.

Manchester deserves a fair shot. Let’s ensure that our state government can act — and act now.

David Preece is a representative of the NH State House, Hillsborough County District, 17 in Manchester. He has been an urban planner for the public and private sectors for 44 years and is also a produced and published playwright, screenwriter, and children’s picture book author.

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