Cindy Pulkkinen: The education funding formula

ZIP codes — a simple set of digits that mark the end of a mailing address. Beyond the postal service, this number should have little significance, yet in New Hampshire a ZIP code can make the difference between whether your child attends a top-ranked public school or one that’s about to be boarded up. ZIP codes also determine property taxes, and to assume there’s a connection between a town’s tax rate and its school quality would be logical if only logic factored into New Hampshire’s education formula.

Take Moultonborough and Berlin as two examples. Residents of Moultonborough send their kids to a school ranked fourth in the state (according to U.S. News & World Report), while paying a tax rate that is one-fifth that of Berlin, where teachers are dismissed, departments are cut and schools are closing down. These communities are distinct in a myriad of ways. Although many may prefer the one overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee, those who have chosen otherwise should not be punished with exorbitant tax rates, nor expected to fund school programs by hosting bake sales.