By GARRY RAYNO, Distant Dome

The familiar saying that the devil hides in the details rings especially true when state lawmakers examine education funding.

Similarly, the idea that numbers reveal the facts holds up here as well.

Legal challenges to the state education funding system stretch back decades, with one recent case settled by the state Supreme Court and another still active in the courts.

In the ongoing case, the state - through the Ayotte administration Attorney General Office - plans to request that the court reverse the key Claremont rulings, which established the state duty to deliver an adequate education to all children and to fund it, the core legal dispute.

Yet the state education system extends beyond standard K-12 public schools, which have faced criticism from Libertarian and Republican lawmakers for the past ten years.

The broader system also covers charter schools that operate outside many rules binding traditional public schools.

Charter schools give families options to focus on arts, math, science, or specialized programs for students with physical or mental challenges or behavioral needs.

The newest element is the Education Freedom Account, or voucher program, which largely supports families already using religious schools, private schools, or homeschooling.

Officials promoted it as an option for children unsuited to regular public schools, yet few students have switched from public schools, as most participants came from religious, private, or home settings.

The Education Trust Fund covers all three programs, not only traditional public education.

In the last fiscal year ending June 30, the trust fund collected $1.36 billion in revenue, roughly $100 million above projections.

The fund once held a surplus exceeding $200 million, but that reserve has shrunk as additional programs draw from it, a fund created after the first Claremont decisions to direct money toward public education. Much of the spending in the EFA program supports non-public options, though the court has accepted this because the law permits it and the sums involved remain modest.

That ruling could face fresh review soon.

This raises the clear question of how fairly the three main parts of the state education system receive funding.

Public schools rely mainly on local and state property taxes, plus about 20 percent from the state and under 8 percent from the federal government.

Both the charter school and EFA programs draw solely from the state via the Education Trust Fund.

That money arrives from portions of state business, rooms and meals, tobacco, and real estate transfer taxes, plus video lottery terminals and other sources, along with all Lottery Commission revenue, utility property tax, and tobacco settlement funds.

Public schools receive support from several sources unavailable to the other two programs.

All three programs receive the base adequacy amount, set at $4,351 this year, plus extra aid of $2,441 for free or reduced lunch students, $2,229 for special education, and $849 for English language learners.

The most recent charter school data on the Department of Education site covers fiscal year 2025.

Charter schools enroll 7,514 students, with the state paying $36.2 million plus roughly a $5,000 per student supplement, totaling $9,086 per student.

April 1 figures for the EFA program show 10,708 students, up by 200 since the school year started. New students must meet exceptions such as family income below 350 percent of the federal poverty level or having siblings already in the program, since the 10,000 cap was reached before the year began.

April 1 data put the total state cost for the just ended school year at $53.14 million.

This produces an average state cost per pupil of $4,963.

For a fair comparison, the question becomes what the state actually spends per public school pupil from the Education Trust Fund.

The statewide property tax is collected locally but credited to the state, with nearly all of it staying in the same district. It does not represent new money raised by the Education Trust Fund through state taxes, gambling, or the tobacco settlement.

The state also runs targeted aid for needy districts and a hold harmless program being phased out, but these funds go only to districts needing extra support for an adequate education.

Department of Education projections for the coming school year put adequacy aid, including differentials, at $817.8 million.

With other targeted aid added, the total reaches $1.06 billion.

The department lists 148,918 students for the year ahead based on prior figures.

This suggests state per pupil aid of $7,118.

To compare directly, targeted aid and the statewide property tax must be removed to isolate the actual Education Trust Fund dollars reaching public school students.

After those adjustments, the state sends $3,047 per student in genuine trust fund money.

Under these numbers, the average voucher runs 63 percent above public school aid, while charter school funding averages three times the state contribution for public school students.

Although public schools serve far more students than charter or EFA programs, the question remains whether the state should spend more per student on the newer programs than on traditional public schools, the core of the system.

When Gov. Kelly Ayotte and others claim the state spends enough on public education, they mean local property taxpayers cover more than their share, allowing the state to avoid the national average of 47 or 48 percent that states contribute to public schools.

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

Distant Dome by veteran journalist Garry Rayno explores a broader perspective on the State House and state happenings for InDepthNH.org. Over his three decade career, Rayno covered the NH State House for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Foster Daily Democrat. During his career, his coverage spanned the news spectrum, from local planning, school and select boards, to national issues such as electric industry deregulation and Presidential primaries. Rayno lives with his wife Carolyn and their two rescue dogs.