The Sullivan County NH Republican Committee

Tag: Education Policy

  • Goodhart’s Law:  When a measure becomes a target, it ceases being a good measure

    I have been trying to understand how educational achievement as a desirable social benefit was replaced by a dreary political monopoly of overpriced mediocrity that is public education. Medically, education presents as a vestigial organ.  Everyone knows it is supposed to be valuable, but that is repeatedly belied by practical experience.  As education became “Our Public School System” it has maintained the appearance of value without the underlying reality.  How did we go from substance to theater?  It took 120 years to transform provably beneficial educational competence into a Trust begging for Busting by Sherman (both M4 tank and anti-trust law).

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  • Three Conservatives Walk Into A Bar

    The following appeared first at my Substack site https://kptyson.substack.com/

    Smoke curled at the threshold of the Crow Bar on Opera House Square as if some backstage machine had misfired. The manager, who had seen his share of theater across the street, merely grinned and held the door. Out of the gray stepped three men in incongruous suits: one with a Victorian beard and a walking stick, one with the stoic face of a mid-century essayist, and one with the grin of a sun-belt senator. He greeted them as if they were regulars who had only been away a century or so, then led them past the worn brick and warm wood to a carved mahogany table surrounded by deep, forgiving chairs.

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  • Keep the Spine: Fund NH Schools with Property Tax—not Sales or Income Taxes.

    The following is the opinion of the author and should not be construed as the policy of the Sullivan County GOP or any elected representatives.

    Parents owe their children an education before anyone owes Concord another revenue stream. The obligation runs from family to child, with the community as a secondary obligee because it lives with the downstream effects: neighbors who can read a budget, track a town warrant, evaluate evidence, and serve when called, voting, jury duty, and, in the broad constitutional sense, the unorganized militia. If we order duties that way, parents first, community second, state as backstop, the funding question looks different. The right mechanism keeps authority near consequences, makes costs visible to the people who approve them, and resists the political reflex to send the bill to “someone else.” In New Hampshire, that mechanism is the property tax, not a sales tax and not an income tax.

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  • Let Them Eat Cake: 35 Years of the Volinsky Lawsuit

    Let Them Eat Cake: 35 Years of the Volinsky Lawsuit

    Not so happy 35th birthday cake with candles, symbolizing the Volinsky lawsuit and New Hampshire tax debate

    By Tom Luther

    This is the third post on the Volinsky lawsuit book, The Last Bake Sale.

    Thus far in his saga, Volinsky has conflated 1950s Arkansas civil rights into 2025 New Hampshire. He has insulted Christianity with a shotgun marriage to Marxism. He carved a communist hole in the NH Constitution by redefining “cherish” into $7,356.01 (don’t leave off the penny). Like President Clinton once did, I expect him to eventually redefine the meaning of the word “is.” Where does this tale end?

    With more spending, of course — from the holy grail of “equitable” taxes: the income tax.

    Mirror, mirror on the wall, which tax is fairest of them all? Income, the Snow White of taxes! Surely you remember this from history?

    The Income Tax Proposal

    Specifically, Volinsky calls for a 4% income tax. Presumably this comes with all the exemptions, deletions, exceptions, and supplemental forms that make income tax administration such a glorious tool to manipulate voters — while keeping TurboTax and accountants in business forever.

    Once this donkey is loose in the barn, there are no end of socialist carrots and sticks that can be applied, tweaked, altered, and modified. If you thought the legislature had too many laws on the books already, you haven’t seen anything yet. Imagine the office complexes, hiring sprees, and carbon offsets necessary to build and administer this perfect beast!

    The “Circuit Breaker”

    At this point Volinsky acknowledges the distant possibility that some NH residents might not be able to afford this much equity. So he butchers the language one last time, introducing the concept of a “circuit breaker” for the poor that would supposedly protect them from being over-taxed into poverty.

    In practice, this device would merely cap the poorest residents’ tax liability while shifting the burden to “others” — softer targets. Snow White gets to pass the poisoned apple to the General Fund. Volinsky admits that the “E” in DEI can be fatal to the poor.

    As an engineer, I know a circuit breaker is a protective device designed to prevent overloads and safeguard infrastructure. The function of a Volinsky “breaker,” however, is not protection but revenue harvesting. This is no circuit breaker — it is a linear operational amplifier. And without careful feedback control, op-amps are dangerous toys. Such devices should not be handed to socialists without risking civil war from lopsided wealth distribution.

    More Taxes, Of Course

    He also wants taxes on second homes and an increase in business taxes. Why not?

    Three Brief Moments of Sanity

    Amid this stale, racist policy fruitcake, there are a few fleeting moments of sanity:

    1. Special Education — Costs might be modeled with an insurance approach, or even paid entirely by the state to reduce local budget stress.
    2. Current Use Exemptions — These distort property taxes and stagnate change.
    3. School Calendar & Attendance — Year length and attendance might be adjusted to suit a less agricultural economy.

    I agree that restructuring special education spending along an insurance model has merit. I’ll leave it to others to flesh out the details in future legislation that conforms to the NH Constitution and practice.

    Alternatives That Make More Sense

    • Land Value Tax (Georgist model): Rather than Current Use exemptions, I prefer a Georgist approach — taxing the land itself, not the structures. This motivates landowners to increase the utility and income of their property, rather than hiding value in Tyvek-wrapped houses and unfinished permits. StrongTowns.org covers this approach with nuance.
    • Homestead Exemption: Instead of taxing second homes or piling on business taxes, I prefer a Homestead exemption. In this system, new homeowners pay the full rate the first year, which declines to about a 75% discount over five years — but only if they reside in the property. Rental, income, and second homes pay the full rate. Florida runs this program with great simplicity and automation.
    • Educational Options: The best way to adapt to changing economic realities is not by tweaking calendars from above but by expanding educational choices. Let parents and kids decide what works best, while the legislature stays silent. Innovation rises from the bottom, not from dictates at the top.

    Closing Thought

    Marie Antoinette reputedly said, “Let them eat cake,” to starving peasants.

    I’d prefer to avoid the French Revolution’s socialist bloodletting. That’s not my kind of circuit breaker.

    Blog post contributed by Tom Luther

  • Exploring Educational Options with Jody Underwood

    You may recall my promising to introduce speakers at SCGOP meetings with an advance blog post on our website, and email to promote such occasion.

    Please welcome Jody Underwood of Education Options (EdOpt) to speak at our April meeting. Consider browsing the website in advance:  https://edopt.org.  Note that  your SCGOP Treasurer and Vice Chair are active in EdOpt. The entire EdOpt team is described therein.

    The EdOpt mission is to provide information, support, and connections to families who want to explore education options. To do this, we hold expos in different regions around the state, connect people to the resources that will help them, and support families in their efforts to educate their children.

    The two pillars of this approach are that parents bear the responsibility of educating their children. Likewise, parents bear the cost of educating their children. NH resources are limited. This is no different than shopping for groceries.

    Given:

    •  the 30 plus year history of reputational drag imposed on Claremont by the former executive councilor Volinsky through various legalist shenanigans;
    • the recent school board election which closely defeated our candidate;
    • the recent chaos at a the last school board policy review meeting, revealing a 9 year old optional trans gender policy;
    • the dire tax impact of Claremont’s SAU costs on raising a family in Claremont;
    • the budgetary impact of both state and federal funding and policy reform.

    With these constraints, dramatic improvement in education funding and delivery is on offer. Freedom in education is finally going in the right direction.

    Overpriced underperforming education and its property tax consequences cross political boundaries. This is the NH hill to die on.

    Jody has been invited to explain the new territory of education options available to parents and kids.

    Your SCGOP team welcomes this presentation and hopes to use it as a springboard to greater public understanding of critical issues, tax consequences, and organizational growth into developing and running candidates for local positions. This is our mission.

    Please invite motivated parents and education entrepreneurs. Sullivan County has been ground zero for poor education policy. We reap the tax and social consequences of those poor decisions. The time for change is ripe.

    —Tom Luther

    This blog post contributed by Tom Luther

  • Emily Sandblade: Advocating for Claremont School Board Changes

    Emily Sandblade

    Emily Sandblade, 71, is running for a seat on the Claremont School Board, citing a strong commitment to improving educational standards and ensuring responsible fiscal management.

    Sandblade previously served one term in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Goffstown, ten years ago. She is an engineer working part-time, a retired physicist, and a former college instructor in computer science and physics.

    Focus on Academic Improvement

    Sandblade emphasized the need to raise educational standards in Claremont schools.

    “Right now, students are scoring at a 38% competency level on standardized tests,” she said. “The School Board needs to heavily focus on getting the Claremont School District out of the bottom quarter of New Hampshire schools.”

    Fiscal Responsibility and Taxpayer Representation

    In addition to improving academics, Sandblade believes that taxpayers and stakeholders deserve better representation in school district decisions.

    “It takes a school to bankrupt a village,” she said. “Next year, education will cost about $28,000 per student. Are Claremont families receiving good value for the sharply increased taxes on their homes?”

    Commitment to Educational Choice

    Sandblade previously ran for the New Hampshire House in November from District 6, representing Claremont and Croydon. In that campaign, she advocated for expanding educational choice for parents while reducing the tax burden. She also supports the expansion of Educational Freedom Accounts, which provide tuition vouchers for families seeking alternatives to public schools.

    Please vote for Emily Sandblade for Claremont School Board on Tuesday, March 11, 2025!