Among the rites of spring is school budget time. School boards are struggling to maintain staff and programs, mindful of property taxes. The elephant in the room is the absence of an equitable tax system. As board members and taxpayers debate, we hear that millions of taxpayer dollars are diverted to “education freedom accounts;” aka Children’s Scholarship Fund. Per Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut there is no assessment of student growth or accounting for funds dispersed from this fund.

The present tax system pits communities, denies basic services, increases dependence on money from liquor and lottery sales and similar activities, but most dangerous makes New Hampshire vulnerable to autocratic leadership.

Kathleen Rooney

Concord