New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has urged the House Finance Committee to support a constitutional amendment that would let the state single out the neediest towns for school aid.
The amendment passed the Senate. It sets forth the state’s responsibility to promote an equal opportunity for an adequate education for every child in public schools.
Lynch told the committee yesterday that an education plan that obligates the state to send the same amount to every child in every community — before communities with greater needs can be helped — does not reduce the inequity that exists between schools. Rather, he said, it widens the disparities and maintains the status quo.
Supporters doubt the House will muster the three-fifths votes needed to put the amendment on the November ballot.
Last week, the Senate approved a school aid plan that is based mostly on factors other than a town’s property wealth, regardless of Lynch’s objections that rich towns shouldn’t get state help.