Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Local Control: An Analysis of the Fight for Fair Funding in Public Schools Across the Granite State

Abstract

Recent research has indicated a positive relationship between school funding and student outcomes in public schools (Baker 2018; Barrett 2018; Correcting the myth 2025). However, states across the nation have varying school financing systems. To look closer at how specific state education funding systems influence funding equity and student outcomes, my research examines New Hampshire’s Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) system. By analyzing the relationship between the SWEPT system and quantitative student outcome variables, I investigate the effectiveness of school finance reform in the State. This builds on qualitative findings and helps explain why the State continues to experience educational inequities despite efforts such as the SWEPT, to reform the school financing system. My findings show that New Hampshire’s SWEPT system has not meaningfully reduced disparities in student outcomes between districts, and that socioeconomic inequality appears to be the more significant driver of educational disparities. These findings suggest that to meaningfully reduce disparities in student outcomes, increased state responsibility and structural reform are necessary to ensure more equitable funding and access to student opportunities.