New Hampshire’s education funding failure must stop
April 11 − To the Editor:
I’m writing in response to your article discussing the Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) in New Hampshire and its implications for education funding across different towns. While I appreciate the attention brought to this issue, I think it’s critical to provide additional information and address key nuances that were overlooked.
I recently attended an informational session in Hampton hosted by the NH School Funding Fairness Project. I was shocked to learn that NH, as a state, is and has been falling far short of its (state) constitutionally mandated obligation to fund an adequate education for our children. Last year, a NH court ruled that the state needed to provide at least $7, 356.01, per child, to fund that education.
SWEPT was originally developed after the Claremont rulings of the 1990s as a vehicle for raising the funds that the state is obligated to supply. However, it was never the intent of SWEPT to allow individual towns to retain that money or carry an excess balance forward. However, the wealthier towns in NH eventually lobbied to change SWEPT fund management and were granted that ability in 2011, widening the town-by-town gap between not only property tax rates, but quality of education.
This history is important, because it gives context to the term “donor town,” which is used frequently in your article. Branding wealthy towns who raise excess funds as “donors” paints a disingenuous picture of reality, implying a voluntary act of giving, which is simply not the case. The SWEPT tax was designed to ensure that the whole state contributed to funding education. Changing the way these funds are managed to allow them to be retained and withheld completely undercut SWEPT’s purpose and intent and was ruled to violate the NH constitution last year.
And as a result of this change, towns with average home values- around $400k- are sometimes taxed at a rate more than double that of towns where home values average $800k and above. Its incredibly frustrating to know that two children, who live just miles apart, can have vastly different access to quality schooling. It doesn’t seem right that in NH, if you want to buy an affordable house, you’ve got to stomach the cripplingly high tax-rate that comes with it. And all for an underfunded, underwhelming education for your children.
We can do better. We must do better. We can’t continue to overtax our neighbors who are already struggling, and we can’t keep turning a blind eye to the glaring disparities in school funding.
I learned a lot by attending the NH School Funding Fairness Project informational session in my town. I’d encourage anyone who wants a more thorough understanding of education funding in our state to visit their website or reach out to them to learn more, and to get involved in this conversation. And I hope we can retire the phrase “donor town” and begin solving this together.
Sarah Elliott
Hampton
Thanks to library for wonderful eclipse event
April 10 − To the Editor:
On Monday, of this week, our Portsmouth Community was given a terrific opportunity to gather together and celebrate the Solar Eclipse at our own Public Library.
The Library thoughtfully organized both an “Inside” and “Outside” event for watchers – the livestream NASA coverage available inside the Library auditorium, and the gathering to view outside on the library lawn. A huge shout-out to Library Director Christine Friese and her staff for the seamless organization in presenting such a great program – and for greeting and helping guide everyone with such positivity and good cheer, and having extra solar glasses on hand – excellent planning!
Watching everyone who gathered outside chatting, helping one another with fitting their glasses properly, exchanging eclipse stories, playing with doggie friends, and generally appreciating the sunny weather, a chance to witness the wonders of Nature, and just coming to be together made a genuinely wonderful community afternoon.
Kudos to our city and library for sponsoring such a successful day! Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!
Penny Bartko
Portsmouth
Palestine − The other side of the story
April 11 −To the Editor:
Most of us understand the history behind a Jewish homeland. Not many appreciate the Palestinian people’s story.
Much is made of the fact that “Israel was always there”. From a biblical perspective, folks argue that the land from the River to the Sea belongs to Israel. However, Jews were just a subset of the population in the region throughout antiquity and before 1948. Before Moses, the region was known as Canaan and inhabited by the Canaanites. With Jewish control, Judea (containing Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple) became the principal home of the Jews.
The word “Palestine” was coined in the 5th century B.C. by the Greek historian Herodotus to define the coastal area from modern-day Lebanon to Egypt. He made no distinction among its inhabitants of which there were many—including the Philistines, Greeks, Syrians and Assyrians.
In 63 B.C., Judea came under the control of Rome. Jewish revolt against Rome around 135 A.D. led to the dispersal of Jews all over the in the Middle East, Europe and North Africa by the Romans. Antisemitism itself spread across Europe in concert with the spread of Christianity in that region.
Judea then became known as Syria Palaestina—home to straggler Jews, Assyrians, and Greeks—the ancestors of modern Palestinians. In 636, the Muslims conquered Palestine, bringing with them Islam and Arabic (500 years after the disbursement of the Jews. Islam itself had only been around since the early 600s AD.) In 1517, the Turks conquered the area ruling it until about the end of the First World War. With the end of Turkish rule, in 1922 the League of Nations gave Britain a mandate to manage Palestine.
In response to a rise in anti-Semitism in the late 19th century in Europe, European Jews sought Britain’s support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. At the turn of the 20th century, shipping through the Suez Canal was mostly British. Britain favored the colonization of Palestine by European Jews— who they believed would be sympathetic to British interests versus local Arabs. In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration announcing its support for a Jewish homeland to be shared with indigenous Palestinians. Britain incorporated the Balfour Declaration into its mandate for Palestine. Palestine’s population in 1918 was 60,000 Jews and 600,000 Arabs. With the British Mandate, European Jews began immigrating to Palestine. By 1947 there were 630,000 Jews and 1.3 million Arabs.
By 1947, Britain sought relief from its oversight of Palestine and looked to the UN for a solution. The UN plan called for two-states with a territorial split consisting of 42% of Palestine for Arabs and a Jewish state comprising 56% of the area. The split was biased against the Palestinian Arabs who accounted for 67% of the population. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born. Today there are about 7 million Jews and 7 million Arabs in an area not that much larger than the State of Vermont.
The region’s history is very complicated.
James T. Lalos
Portsmouth
US must stop funding Israel if it fails to follow rules of war
April 11 − To the Editor:
After the killing of 7 aid workers for the World Community Kitchen in Gaza a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation. He called the killings a tragic mistake, but that the IDF conduct in the war was the most ethical in the history of wars. He then bragged that the IDF had allowed 18,000 truckloads of aid into Gaza since the war began.
Prior to the war Gaza received 500 truckloads of aid each day. 18,000 truckloads constitute 36 days of aid in 180 days. Instead of proving how ethical Israel was in conducting the war it proves Israel was deliberately starving the people of Gaza. Even our own Secretary of State has stated that all of Gaza is facing starvation, though he diplomatically called it food insecurity.
The Public Broadcasting Service’s Newshour reported that Israel has damaged or destroyed 800 schools in Gaza. It has all but rendered hospitals unable to operate by depriving them of fuel for their generators as well as medical supplies.
Israel is a signatory of the Geneva Convention. The time has come for America to stop arming Israel until it comes into full compliance with the Convention and all International rules of war.
Walter Hamilton
Portsmouth
Peace will only come when Palestinians accept state of Israel
April 12 − To the Editor:
The recent letter by Pastor Grimshaw-Jones (April 12) is appalling on many levels. His opposition to SB 439 is based in large part on vicious slurs aimed at Israel and its people. He alleges that Israel practices “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing” and is a “blatantly racist system.” These claims are utterly false. It is certainly true that Jews have been ethnically cleansed from most Arab nations. However, Israel is a racially and ethnically diverse nation with a large Arab minority. All of its citizens have the same civil rights whether they are secular or observant Jews, Muslims, Druze, or Christians. To compare Israeli society to that of South Africa is preposterous, and Grimshaw-Jones should know that.
The reverend would have us believe that the BDS movement is a peaceful movement that simply tries to stop the flow of weaponry to Israel. That claim is false. BDS activists frequently disrupt activities on US campuses, sometimes violently. The targets of these activists include Israeli academics trying to deliver scholarly lectures and Israeli dancers and musicians in the midst of performances. In October, Jewish students at Cooper Union College had to be locked in the school library to protect them from a mob of BDS advocates.
Perhaps Grimshaw-Jones should consult the definition of antisemitism drafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. This definition has been adopted or endorsed by several dozen national governments and several dozen US states. One example of antisemitism offered by the IHRA is “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” I hope that Grimshaw-Jones can open his heart and acknowledge that Israel is a tiny country with a Jewish majority that deserves to live in peace. Peace will come, however, only if the Palestinians and their BDS supporters accept the permanent existence of the State of Israel.
Richard England
Durham
Let LGBTQ+ Granite Staters live free
April 11- To the Editor:
New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” state motto should guarantee freedom and privacy to all Granite Staters because everyone deserves to feel safe and welcome in the community they call home, regardless of sexual preference or gender identity.
I’m grateful to live in Senator Debra Altschiller’s district because she understands this. As the N.H. Senate debated anti-LGBTQ+ bills, she defended LGBTQ+ youth and pointed out the hypocrisy of those defending these anti-LGBTQ+ attacks.
Unfortunately, many legislators do not. This legislative session, an alarming amount of bills targeting our LGBTQ+ community were introduced. The N.H. Senate passed bills that would ban transgender girls from playing on teams corresponding to the gender they live every day and require schools to forcibly out teenagers who may not be ready to talk with their parents about their gender identity. These bills will head to the N.H. House. In the N.H. House, bills banning health care and referrals for LGBTQ+ individuals have already been passed and will be heading to the N.H. Senate in April.
Now more than ever, we must continue to support our LGBTQ+ loved ones and community members.
Meredith Murray
Exeter
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