Irony in Claremont
How ironic that the current school financial crisis in the City of Claremont, the namesake of the now nearly 30 year old “Claremont Decision,” has influenced State Representative Glenn Cordell (R-Tuftonboro) to propose HB 752. This bill, if passed, will allow the State Board of Education to take oversight of any school facing a financial crisis. In the 1997 appeal, Claremont School District v. Governor of New Hampshire, the Supreme Court concluded that “…it was the State’s duty to provide a constitutionally adequate public education and to guarantee adequate funding…”
If the State had only followed this mandate, and given adequate funding to school districts, it is entirely possible, even likely, that the City of Claremont’s school system would not be experiencing financial difficulty today. Perhaps rather than the Claremont School District, it is the governor, the state legislature and those promoting HB 752 who would benefit from the scrutiny of oversight.