Gov. Sununu keeps NH last in education funding: Letters

Gov. Sununu keeps NH last in education funding

March 23 −To the Editor:

Congratulations are in order for Governor Sununu.

Heading into the final year of an eight year residence in the Corner Office, he has successfully managed and maintained − with the assistance of our Dept. of Education − New Hampshire's position as absolute last in the nation in terms of State aid to education. While he has been adamant in reducing business taxes on multi-national corporations, local real estate taxes have increased on an annual basis, seriously impacting the finances of fixed-income retirees, first-time homeowners, and low-income tenants.

Although overall state income seems to have increased, the headlines tell us that education funding has not been keeping pace. We read of substantial layoffs at UNH and the closing of the university art museum and several liberal arts programs (plus a proposed increase in in-state tuition). In Dover, the proposed school budget reflects a reduction in state funding close to 18% from the previous year. How is that difference to be made up?

Twenty years ago, in the case of Claremont v. NH, our Supreme Court held that it was the state's duty to provide a constitutionally adequate education for public school students. Historically, it has been obvious that the state has failed to meet this standard, to the point that this past year a Superior Court judge issued an order that the state was to comply. (It's more than likely that the State will expend substantial amounts of taxpayer money to challenge this decision.) In the meantime, the burden on funding the public school system has increasingly fallen on the local property owner or, alternatively, needed staffing and programs have been postponed or eliminated at the district level.

It has often been said that our most precious resource is our young people, and it should have been an ongoing priority at the State level − even without the threat of legal action − to provide appropriate funding for every school and community in the state. Instead, Sununu and all those past and present who could have made a difference have apparently been more than content in holding down last place.

Anthony McManus

Dover

Sununu told us what he really thinks of Trump

March 24 − To the Editor:

I have a friend who, years ago, dated a guy who left her in a burning building. He escaped but left her to fend for herself.  Mercifully, she escaped unharmed. She laughed when she admitted that she continued to date him. She learned shortly that was not a great idea and ended up walking away from a relationship that, well, was doomed from the start.

So, it got me thinking about Governor Chris Sununu’s support of Donald Trump. According to Alex Floyd, rapid response director for the Democratic National Committee, Sununu remarked,   “Donald Trump is a crazy a**hole and a soon-to-be four-time loser who can’t beat President Biden,” In addition, “Sununu called Trump a coward and the definition of extremism who can barely keep a cogent thought.”

Huh.

And, while talk may be cheap, as it obviously is with Sununu, it does seem rather stunning that Sununu would now support a candidate who not only disparages women, minorities, democracy and laws, a candidate who has remarked, “Well, Hitler did some good things” and a candidate who supports not only “blood baths” but also the exoneration of January 6th rioters. The current governor supports the man who allowed and supported a horrific attack both literally and figuratively on the rule of law, on decency, who now refers to those rioters as “hostages.”

It appears Sununu can look past all that as he projects an image that not only stuns common sense, stuns democracy itself.

My friend got out of the relationship with the boyfriend who left her in the burning building. Sununu is not only staying in the burning building, he’s campaigning that we all join him.

Susan Dromey Heeter

Newmarket

Donald Trump poses a danger to our national security

March 21 − To the Editor:

For Americans who have ever had to safeguard sensitive government information, it is easy to conclude that Donald Trump is extremely dangerous to our national security. If anyone getting a paycheck from Uncle Sam, in uniform or not, did the types of things he has done, they would be court-martialed, dishonorably discharged, fired for cause, heavily fined or already in jail.

My letter titled "Reading "a Form 86 can be an enlightening experience," shared information categories typically collected to ensure that those working for the government won't share sensitive information with those wishing to do harm to the United States. Since that April 2016 letter, we know that Donald Trump did have multiple foreign bank accounts, and is now engaged in multiple criminal and civil legal proceedings. He did not follow the rules for handling classified information. He has been found guilty of sexual assault and business fraud. His heavy legal debts alone now make him a high security risk as do his extensive foreign contacts. How many secrets could he sell, or has already sold/shared, to raise $500,000,000? The public will likely never know.

Years ago, he asked Russia for help getting dirt on his political opponent and then as the newly elected president, shared secret information with Russia, and disclosed secret satellite capability, to name a few.

After thoughtlessly declassifying intelligence information, Russian intelligence sources began disappearing. He wrongfully retained highly classified information after he left office, including an un-redacted binder of information related to Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Elections. Sharing state secrets with adversaries is not typical behavior for someone running to be Commander in Chief.

It is difficult to understand why so many Americans admire/accept this behavior, when his oblivious, short-sighted and self-absorbed behavior has already resulted in so many deaths to those at home (e.g., negligent Covid response and pushing ineffective/harmful remedies)  and abroad (e.g., blocking Ukrainian military aid). If researching and reading about security related concerns isn’t your preference, see “The Comey Rule” series on streaming video and it will sequentially lay out historical events that have been in the news for years and may have been difficult to put into perspective before. If you don’t mind reading, read the Mueller Report  to understand that it did not exonerate Donald Trump and that Trump becoming president exceeded Russia’s wildest dreams. Also realize that Iran is a Russian ally, and neither of those nations is currently a friend.

Don Cavallaro

Rye

Fiction reflects fact: It can happen here

March 26 −To the Editor

In his novel “It Can’t Happen Here” (1935), Sinclair Lewis tellingly foresees the dangers to our democracy posed by a Donald Trump presidency. Lewis is one of America’s most famous and accomplished authors, having also written Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith (1925), and Main Street (1920).

“It Can’t Happen Here,” tells the rise of populist senator and attention-grabbing orator Buzz Wndrip to the United States presidency. When people attend a Windrip rally, they learn “how charismatic Windrip really is; even though Windrip doesn’t make any coherent point, he’s so passionate and relatable that people genuinely start to believe that he will solve all their problems.” (ListCharts)

As I learned during the many years I lived in Live Free or Die New Hampshire, many Granite Staters prefer to believe that the United States has a bedrock democracy that cannot be shaken. We are too independent, too intelligent, and will fiercely defend our freedom. We may be kidding ourselves. As soon as Windrip becomes president, he deposes the Supreme Court, throttles Congress, controls the media, and suppresses all political parties other than his own. Even now, Trump’s authoritarian nature moves him to control others who do not agree with him.

“Through his satire, Lewis encourages his readers to defend their nation’s democracy and reject any political movement that claims it must take away people’s rights and freedoms in order to save them from threats – lest they fail to recognize the true threat until it is too late.” (ListCharts).

Gary Patton

(Formerly of Hampton)

Princeton, NJ

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Gov. Sununu keeps NH last in education funding: Letters