How to Fix CACR 14 to Protect Local Control

This is Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution (CACR) 14 as amended by Sen. Stiles and adopted by the Senate Internal Affairs Committee.  If local control is to be protected, the struck out text must be removed.  Please call your state senator and ask that he or she protects local control.

NH Constitution, Part II [Art.] 5-c [Public Education]

In fulfillment of the provisions with respect to education set forth in Part II, Article 83,

• This attributes the new article Pt. II Art. 5-c to the fulfillment of the Claremont decision which interprets Pt. II Art. 83 and found a collective duty to “cherish” or fund education.

the general court shall have the authority, responsibility, and discretion

• This section grants the Legislature authority….

to define reasonable standards for elementary and secondary public education, to establish reasonable standards of accountability, therefor, and

• This section authorizes the Legislature to define “standards” or curriculums for K-12 and then set “accountability” standards or require assessments to insure that their curriculum requirements are satisfactorily met.

to mitigate local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity. Further, in the exercise thereof, the general court shall have full discretion to determine the amount, methods of raising and distributing, State funding for education.

• This section supposedly pushes back against the activist Court and authorizes the Legislature to fund education hopefully with less Judicial intervention.