Subject:	NHHR-POLITICS: Update on AG's SB268 funding question
Date:	Fri, 31 Mar 2006 16:39:46 -0500
From:	Diane Lachance
Reply-To:	nhhr-politics@mailman.dimentech.com
To:	<nhhr-politics@mailman.dimentech.com>

I did a little further investigation regarding the Attorney General's office decision that SB268 was not an unfunded mandate, or that it was not in violation of the N.H. State Constitution, Article 28A.

I just finished speaking with Deputy Attorney General Bud Fitch.  The explanation and decision he gave are based on the AG's office interpretation of the law, as well as a Supreme Court decision which challenged Article 28A.  The case which challenged Article 28A was the Town of Nelson Vs. the Department of Transportation. 

In Supreme Court case, the state redirected a state road away from an area where some residential driveways had previously joined the state road.  In essence, by redirecting the state road, the state was abandoning the stretch of road where these houses were located.  The Town contended that by redirecting the road, and putting financial responsibility back on the Town for that stretch of road, the State was violating Article 28A, and imposing an unfunded mandate upon the Town to maintain to the abandoned road.  The Supreme Court ruling was that the town had the DUTY to maintain the roads in the Town, regardless of whether the number of miles changed.

The analogy to SB268 is that every school distrct has the DUTY to educate it's students regardless of whether the number of students change.

Deputy Attorney Finch also stated that  the way schools are funded by the state, with a three year lag between numbers reported and dollars received, the state felt they were paying for the number of students who were in school three years prior, even if they dropped out by the time the three years came around.  The district has a responsibility to educate them.  This one is a bit fuzzy to me.  Perhaps someone who understands state funding of education can better explain why this is part of their reasoning.

I thought some people might find this explanation interesting.

Diane Lachance