Also on today’s menu:
Three Charged In Vandalism At Israeli Defense Contractor
NHPR Investigation Raises Questions About ARMI
Rockingham County Superior Court Judge David Ruoff determined that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide an “adequate” education, either in the amount of money it provides or in a fair and proportional distribution.
In one ruling, Ruoff found that the current $4,100 base adequacy rate per student should be at least $7,356.01 per student to meet adequacy requirements. That would increase state spending by $537.6 million a year — a more than 50 percent increase to the $1 billion per year the state currently spends on its K-12 public schools. He wrote, “In light of the compelling evidence presented at trial, the Court trusts that the legislature will set a base adequacy aid figure meaningfully higher than the $7,356.01 threshold: a figure that will fulfill the State’s obligation to fund the opportunity for a constitutionally adequate public education.”
In a second ruling, Ruoff found that the statewide education property tax (SWEPT) is unconstitutional as currently applied. The tax is collected by towns, rather than the state, and is redistributed according to a town’s ability to pay for education. In 2011, the New Hampshire Legislature amended the law to allow wealthier towns to retain any excess SWEPT they collect, rather than to distribute it to poorer towns. Ruoff ordered the state to distribute the money as originally intended.
Discussion: The New Hampshire Legislature has never taken the state Supreme Court rulings in the Claremont and Claremont II cases seriously. Those lawsuits by property-poor school districts, including Franklin, successfully argued that their public schools were unable to provide the quality of education that wealthier communities provided and sought help from the state. “Adequate” aid is such a subjective term that lawmakers set the amount as low as they could reasonably get away with despite knowing that it came nowhere near the amount of money that would be necessary to provide real help to property-poor communities. Even worse, rather than finding a state source for money that would address adequacy, they added another local property tax and simply labeled it a statewide education property tax. Not only did that increase the already-high property tax burden for residents, it created an us vs. them situation between wealthy and poor communities. The state really should abandon SWEPT and develop a real statewide revenue source that delivers real help to communities.
Three Charged In Vandalism At Israeli Defense Contractor
The Attorney-General’s Office is working with the Merrimack Police Department in its investigation of alleged vandalism of Elbit Systems’ Merrimack facility at 220 Daniel Webster Highway during a pro-Palestine protest. Elbit Systems is an Israeli-based defense contractor.
Police arrested Sophie Marika Ross, 22, of Housatonic, Massachusetts, Cala Mairead Walsh, 19, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Bridget Irene Shergalis, 27, of Dayville, Connecticut, charging them with riot, sabotage, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct.
According to police, Elbit employees called just before 8 a.m. on November 20 to complain of protesters blocking the driveway. They also believed people were on the roof of the facility. Upon arrival, officers found protesters who were voicing support for Palestine blocking the roadway. The front of the building had been spray-painted, windows had been smashed, and at least one of the main lobby doors had been locked shut with a bicycle anti-theft device, according to a news release by Merrimack police. The Merrimack Fire Department responded to a report of smoke coming from the roof. Police said evidence suggested that the smoke was caused by an incendiary device similar to ones later located on one of the suspects arrested. While clearing the roof, police found more damage — spray-painting, smashed skylights, and damage to HVAC equipment.
Senator Donna Soucy (D-Manchester) commented, “Although we fiercely defend the right of every citizen to peacefully have their voice be heard, the actions taken today cross beyond protected free speech and into hateful, criminal action.”
Discussion: The Israel-Hamas war has brought long-simmering differences to the forefront of consciousness, and peaceful protest is both warranted and reasonable when it addresses the core problems behind the conflict: Countries opposed to and threatening Israel’s existence and Israeli politicians’ oppression of Palestinians. It is important to distinguish between political leaders and those living under their rule: Condemn the oppressors and the terrorists, but do not assume everyone is behind them. Those organizing protests should do all they can to ensure that the demonstration does not degenerate into criminal actions and violence.
NHPR Investigation Raises Questions About ARMI
Dean Kamen, the acclaimed executive director of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI), has declined comment on an investigation by New Hampshire Public Radio into the use of federal money to help for-profit companies he controls. Some of that government money is being used to convert Manchester mill buildings he owns into sites for the development of advanced healthcare devices, but his companies also then collect rent from the nonprofit ARMI. NHPR found that “Kamen’s private business interests and the nonprofit he runs are so interwoven that two of ARMI’s top executives are actually on DEKA’s payroll.” DEKA is Kamen’s for-profit business, and according to NHPR, it is “far and away the top recipient of ARMI’s multimillion-dollar grant program”. ARMI has received $215 million in public money, with at least $34 million flowing into “a constellation of for-profit businesses” Kamen owns, according to NHPR.
Kamen is “a prolific inventor” best known for developing the Segway scooter, and many of his inventions — including a bionic arm for amputees, a stair-climbing wheelchair, and a water purification device — have received lots of media hype, but NHPR notes they “have fallen short of Kamen’s lofty predictions”.
The article continues, “Despite that mixed record of commercial success, Kamen has still found plenty of support from political allies, including New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, whose daughter is a highly paid ARMI contractor.”
Discussion: The relationship between nonprofits and for-profits always deserves scrutiny, as this article points out. “The complex web of connections is unusual and calls for more transparency, according to three experts in nonprofit governance who reviewed ARMI’s public tax filings at the request of NHPR and APM Reports,” NHPR says. That does not mean that Kamen is guilty of wrongdoing. If not his properties, ARMI would need to rent space from someone else who likely would be a private landlord. Still, without independent scrutiny, honest business dealings can easily slip into unethical or criminal activities, and the political connection makes it even more important that outsiders review what is going on.
By The Way…
With the Thanksgiving holiday, we will be taking a break from the News Café, but there are stories that may interest you:
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National Gratitude Month
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