One little word

Most people observe April Fools’ Day by pulling pranks, tricks and gags on others. New Hampshire marked the occasion by making a fool of itself.

April 1 was the date set by the state supreme court for Granite State lawmakers to come up with an equitable method of funding public schools. With 15 months to work it out, the legislature and the governor fooled around, played at politics and missed their deadline. In fact, they didn’t even give it a good try.

In December 1997, the court ruled that the way New Hampshire schools were funded — local property taxes as the sole support of local schools — was unconstitutional. The court’s reason: The wide disparity in tax base between wealthy communities with high-valued business property and poor towns without made it impossible to meet the state constitution’s guarantee of an “adequate” education for all children.

If “adequate” means the same thing in Portsmouth as it does in Franklin, the court reasoned, it is unfair that per-pupil spending from community to community ranges from less than $4,000 to nearly $10,000, teacher salaries from the low 20s to the mid-40s, buildings from the crowded and crumbling to the spacious and well-maintained.

So as of Thursday, it is illegal for communities to tax real estate for pay for their schools. And in a state with no statewide tax on income, sales or anything else, there’s nothing to fill the gap.

Not that lawmakers didn’t look for something. They discussed taxing movie tickets and golf course greens fees. They debated filing the state with video gambling machines. The tried every gimmick imaginable and couldn’t get anything through the legislature or past the governor. They even argued about a state property tax, but property-rich towns didn’t want to help their less-fortunate neighbors and threatened to sue. All of this, of course, is what happens when a culture develops that views taxation as something criminal, even evil, instead of as the way society shares a common burden and pays its own way.

If a way isn’t found soon, the repercussions for New Hampshire are dire. State and local credit ratings already have been lowered, making borrowing difficult and increasing interest charges. School districts, many of which will be broke by May, cannot enter into contracts for essential goods and services; they may have to default on contracts they already have; they cannot sell bonds for construction projects. This, too: Hundreds of teachers and staff members already have received pink slips advising them they may not

have a job next year. Recruiting new teachers is virtually impossible. In Portsmouth alone, a high-paying district that usually has applicants galore, 20 teachers are retiring this year and no one’s applying for the jobs.

Not that New Hampshire’s troubles should concern Maine. True, Maine has the same disparity in per-pupil spending, in teacher pay, in buildings. What Maine does not have is a Constitution that even hints at educational equality, not a whisper about “adequate.” In Maine, a legislator can say, as one recently did at a hearing on education funding, that no one should expect Jonesboro’s schools to be as good as Yarmouth’s. That can be said and no one, not even the state’s highest court, can do anything about it.

What Maine does have is a law, the 1985 school finance law, that declares it to be the “intent” of the Legislature that the state’s share of operating schools, General Purpose Aid to Education, will be at least — at least — 55 percent. In 14 years, the state has never come close. It’s in the mid-40 percent range now, with local property taxpayers kicking in the rest. And really kicking about it. Nothing causes as much anger and bitterness, nothing is so divisive to a community, as rising property taxes. Nothing so ensures that the gap between Jonesboro and Yarmouth will only widen.

And Maine lawmakers are doing a pretty fair imitation of their Live Free or Die counterparts in the fooling around department. There is a clear problem, there is a law on the books that would go a long way to fix it. But as long as the citizens are yelling at Town Hall about property taxes and not at the State House, why bother? There are other, easier tax cuts to make, other tax breaks to give. Though not as beneficial to the average taxpayer, they look good on paper. Just as New Hampshire lawmakers can’t bring themselves to convince citizens that broad-based statewide taxes are not part of a vast anti-freedom conspiracy, many Maine lawmakers have a hard time explaining that increasing GPA isn’t spending; it’s tax relief.

It’s going to get ugly in New Hampshire. Communities, kids, teachers, families, the state’s reputation will all be damaged. But eventually, sooner or maybe later, a solution to this crisis will be found. New Hampshire will fund its schools in a way that is fair. And all because of the way the state supreme court defined “adequate.” Wonder what Maine’s court would make of “intent.”