Molly Kelly to host Public Forums

A key player in Gov. John H. Lynch’s effort to solve the state’s school funding puzzle — state Sen. Molly Kelly, D-Keene — plans to host four public meetings in her district this week to solicit opinions and ideas about how to define an “adequate” education.
About a month ago, Lynch appointed the newly-elected Kelly to an eight-member task force whose job is to begin solving the school funding problem by developing a definition of an adequate education.
Kelly, who made education the dominant theme of her campaign last fall, said she considered it an honor to be asked to join the task force, which is preparing to tackle a problem that has gone unresolved for about a decade.
The challenge facing the state is to find a way to abide by the N.H. Supreme Court’s ruling that paying for an adequate education is the state’s responsibility, rather than the responsibility of local property-tax payers.
Legislators say solving the crisis will eventually require more than just a definition — it will also require figuring out how much money it would cost the state to provide an adequate education, and how the state will raise the money to pay for it.
But Kelly and other state legislators say it’s important, for the time being, to focus on the issue of what “adequacy” is.
“I understand that it’s difficult not to talk about the cost, but we’re really trying to do that,” Kelly said.
Roughly a decade ago, the N.H. Supreme Court declared the state’s system of paying for education — where the financial burden falls largely to local property taxes — unconstitutional.
Since then, efforts to resolve the issue have been struck down repeatedly by the N.H. Supreme Court.
In a ruling last year, the Court gave the state Legislature until July 1 of this year to come up with a definition of what constitutes an “adequate” education.
On Feb. 12, Lynch introduced his own definition of adequacy, which is based on the state’s school approval standards and curriculum frameworks.
The state school approval standards are a list of criteria all public schools must meet. They include everything from what students should learn in biology class to how much time they should have to eat lunch to how many should be in each 5th-grade class. Schools that fail to meet the criteria are given three years to make improvements.
Lynch’s definition doesn’t include all the standards. While it incorporates the criteria for English, math, science, social studies, the arts, world languages, technology, health and physical education for elementary, middle and high school, it leaves out standards for school facilities and guidance counselors, among others.
Kelly said Lynch’s proposed definition is only a starting point from the task force. She declined to comment on any of the details in Lynch’s definition, saying she’s not offering up her own views until after she hears from the public.
The task force, which includes four senators and four state representatives, is holding public meetings in Plymouth, Manchester, Dover and Claremont to seek public input.
The group isn’t hosting a forum in the Monadnock Region, which is why Kelly is hosting her own meetings in her district this week, she said. The public, however, may attend a forum hosted by the entire task force on Monday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m., at the Maple Avenue Elementary School at 210 Maple Ave. in Claremont.
Besides Kelly, the task force’s other members are senators Iris W. Estabrook, D-Durham, Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, and Robert P. Odell Jr., R-Lempster, as well as state representatives Emma L. Rous, D-Durham, Kimberley S. Casey, D-East Kingston, James M. O’Neil, D-Merrimack, and Nancy F. Stiles, R-Hampton.
Kelly’s meetings:
Tuesday, March 6, at 7 p.m. at the ELM Community Center in Winchester.
Wednesday, March 7, at 6 p.m. at Chesterfield Elementary School.
Saturday, March 10, at 10 a.m., at the Cheshire County YMCA building on Lake Street in Swanzey.
Sunday, March 11, at 4 p.m., at Keene High School, room 9.
Members of the public may also attend a forum hosted by the entire task force on Monday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m., at the Maple Avenue Elementary School at 210 Maple Ave. in Claremont.
Kelly said she also welcomes comments sent to her via e-mail, at molly.kelly@state.leg.nh.us, or at adequacy@leg.state.nh.us.