By GARRY RAYNO, Distant Dome

The Supreme Court issued two Claremont education decisions last century that left the state public education setup and its funding largely unchanged.

In reality the disparities within the system have grown wider now than at the time the case began in 1991.

Claremont I from 1993 determined that the state holds a constitutional obligation to deliver an adequate education to its youth and to cover the costs.

Claremont II from 1997 ruled the financing approach unconstitutional since it depended on local property taxes featuring broad differences in rates to cover most public school expenses.

The state constitution requires proportional and reasonable taxation yet property tax rates vary widely across towns and cities.

The pair of rulings shielded both the children of the state and property taxpayers ranging from homes to businesses.

Following the Claremont outcomes state leaders defined an adequate education at the lowest cost they thought possible. They introduced a statewide property tax along with a utility property tax to capture revenue from towns hosting power plants such as Seabrook, Bow, Newington and Portsmouth. They increased select rates including the business enterprise tax to generate extra funds and directed more state support toward lower property wealth areas like Claremont that face challenges educating their students.

Since then officials have adjusted distribution formulas to permit property rich towns to retain surplus funds raised via the statewide property tax and have worked to restore elements of the prior system the court had struck down.

In the most recent session lawmakers enacted a measure stating that funding an adequate education going forward will be a joint duty of the state and local taxpayers while loosening the definition of an adequate education.

Over the past five years they launched the start of a parallel education track through vouchers allowing parents with sufficient means who enroll children in religious or private schools to obtain state taxpayer support totaling 130 million dollars and rising. At the same time they reduced business tax rates and ended the interest and dividends tax resulting in more than 1 billion dollars in foregone state revenue.

It is no surprise that Superior Court Judge David Ruoff expressed frustration noting the legislature lacked the political resolve to tackle the issues and directed them to allocate 500 million dollars more each year to cover the actual costs of what they had defined as adequate.

Two special justices on the Supreme Court who heard the matter concurred that the state should be required to pay yet three others disagreed citing separation of powers among government branches.

These recent efforts to weaken the Claremont rulings echo patterns that emerged soon after the initial decision.

State Sen. Jim Rubens R-Etna proposed a constitutional amendment the year after Claremont II that would have made public education solely a local duty rather than a state responsibility.

It became the first of several to fail.

Governors from both parties sought to amend the constitution to strip courts of jurisdiction.

They enlisted top constitutional lawyers to craft wording that would at minimum exempt the case from strict scrutiny standards the toughest level of judicial review typically applied to fundamental constitutional rights.

The court rulings viewed public education as a fundamental right of children and demanded the highest review standards to reverse them.

At one stage the legislature considered rival constitutional amendments some backed by Republicans and their counsel and others by Democrats and their counsel.

One measure viewed as having strong prospects originated from former Gov. John Lynch office and involved lawyers from both parties seeking language that would grant the legislature and executive greater control over education and funding while preserving limited judicial oversight in extreme cases.

The amendment followed the Supreme Court 2006 Londonderry ruling that found the state had not defined an adequate education or isolated its precise costs.

Like the others it never advanced through either legislative chamber and none came close.

The Claremont decisions proved unpopular among many lawmakers yet found favor with New Hampshire residents who gained from the shifts the rulings produced.

State support for education rose from roughly 100 million dollars yearly to nearly 1 billion within a decade though much of the increase came from the statewide property tax mechanism.

Funds previously collected as local property taxes became state property tax revenue the next year but the uniform rate made collection fairer across the state.

Property taxes fell by several hundred million dollars in the first year of the revised system yet soon resumed climbing.

The updated approach delivered additional state resources to cities such as Manchester Nashua and Rochester along with lower wealth towns including Newport Pittsfield and Franklin.

Lawmakers from those areas opposed overturning or disregarding the rulings and at the time they represented their districts rather than rigid ideologies common today.

Before long wealthier communities sued the state over the statewide property tax arguing their local tax dollars were used elsewhere without local input on spending.

They prevailed at superior court but lost at the Supreme Court.

In 2011 the legislature allowed property wealthy towns to keep excess statewide property tax revenue provided it went to education though much has gone unspent on that purpose.

Recent court outcomes in the education funding disputes including the ConVal and Rand matters have also favored challengers with the Rand case heading to the Supreme Court on state appeal.

The state record in court remains weak. Success is difficult after three decades of noncompliance.

Despite legal wins the education funding setup has shifted little since the landmark rulings with local property taxes still covering most school costs rather than the state.

The issue centers not on total spending since the state ranks high nationally in per student outlays but on who pays where New Hampshire ranks last.

The lasting significance of the two Claremont decisions lies less in subsequent changes to the system and more in the fact that the rulings stated plainly what residents already understood.

Students in property wealthy communities near water bodies or with strong tax bases such as Hebron Bartlett Bridgewater Albany Holderness Jackson Bedford Hanover and Waterville Valley enjoy broader educational chances and higher academic success rates than those from lower wealth areas including Claremont Newport Franklin Berlin Charlestown Greenfield and Pittsfield.

This remains the core problem the courts confronted three decades ago.

The question now is whether the current Supreme Court will reverse the Claremont decisions. The Ayotte administration attorney general office informed the court last month it plans to request reversal.

When lawmakers show their positions repeatedly it is wise to take note.

Those seeking a fairer education funding system should vote them out. Otherwise little will change.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

Distant Dome by veteran journalist Garry Rayno offers a wider view on the State House and state events for InDepthNH.org. Across his three decade career Rayno covered the NH State House for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Foster Daily Democrat. His reporting covered topics from local planning school and select boards to national matters such as electric industry deregulation and presidential primaries. Rayno lives with his wife Carolyn and their two rescue dogs.