Bill > HR28

This resolution requests the New Hampshire Supreme Court justices to provide a clarifying opinion on the state's constitutional obligations regarding education by asking eight specific legal questions. The resolution stems from Part II, Article 83 of the state constitution, which broadly states that knowledge and learning are essential to preserving free government and that legislators should "cherish the interest of literature and the sciences." The key questions address whether this constitutional provision creates a legally enforceable right to education funding, or if it is merely an aspirational directive; whether the judiciary can compel the legislature to appropriate education funds; whether there are manageable standards for determining educational adequacy; whether educational opportunity must be uniform across towns or can vary locally; whether the state can fulfill its educational duty through means other than direct funding; the extent of judicial remedial authority if funding schemes are found unconstitutional; and whether the state is constitutionally obligated to provide education at all, given historical town-based educational practices and the Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states. The resolution seeks to clarify the precise legal interpretation of the state's educational constitutional mandate by requesting the Supreme Court justices' formal opinion on these nuanced legal questions.

Justice

https://gc.nh.gov/bill_Status/billinfo.aspx?id=1520&inflect=2