New Hampshire

Distant Dome: Student Reading Scores Follow the Money

Published

1 month ago

February 7, 2026

Distant Dome: Student Reading Scores Follow the Money

By GARRY RAYNO, Distant Dome

In my public school days, there were no cell phones to find information in an instant, or communicate with friends or family or someone across the universe, or a mind-boggling number of games to play while sitting in class.

We had books. Books for math, science, history and many books for English/literature classes.

We also had lots of records and a few good Boston radio stations to occupy our time when we weren’t reading for school or for our own pleasure.

But for school, we had to read and read a lot.

You often hear today that kids don’t read, and perhaps that is true, but they do read a lot from the screens of their phones, but its value is an open question.

Last week Gov. Kelly Ayotte gave her State-of-the-State address to the Legislature and one of her initiatives was to raise the bar on reading and literacy scores for the state’s public school students.

She directed the education commissioner to determine why some districts do so well and others do not.

“Low reading scores are a challenge here and across the country, and I believe a smart first step for us in addressing this is to dig into our districts that are standouts and ask them what are they doing differently,” Ayotte said. “What can we learn and apply from their example? How can we help all of our schools raise the bar for reading?”

Looking at the Department of Education’s date about schools and how well they perform on the statewide assessment tests under the No Child Left Behind initiative — which is now more than 20 years old — there are a few outstanding schools that reach high proficiency levels in reading, many are in the middle and there are a good number with too many students performing below the proficiency level.

That should not be a surprise to anyone who was around when the last full-blown study of education funding was done in 2019.

The consultants the commission hired crunched the state data to determine what schools produced students with outcomes that pointed toward success and which schools’ students constantly performed below the state’s average achievement level.

They mapped out their findings with a little line in the middle to indicate the acceptable range and the visual was stunning.

Those schools that produced the best outcomes for their students were all in districts that could afford a little extra for their students, i.e. property wealthy communities.

Those districts where the outcomes were below what was considered acceptable were from school districts that struggled to provide an adequate education for their students.

This is not to say that good students were doomed to failure if they attended low-outcome schools, but the overall outcomes for the students were well below what property wealthy communities produced.

We have all heard throwing money at education isn’t the answer, but maybe the way to view that assertion is additional funding may not produce the results you would like to see, but too little investment will all but guarantee a district’s students will be underserved on their way to adulthood.

If you ask US News and World Report which are the best elementary schools in New Hampshire, the results are what you might expect.

The towns where these schools are located are Bedford, Franconia, Grantham, Hanover, Mason, Portsmouth, Rye and Windham.

The magazine uses assessment scores and the results in context of socioeconomics demographics. The magazine writes “the top-ranked schools are all high-achieving and have succeeded at educating all their students.”

The top ranked schools are one to 10: Riddle Brook School, Bedford; Rye Elementary School; Mason Elementary School; Lafayette Regional School, Franconia; Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover; Peter Woodbury School, Bedford; New Franklin School, Portsmouth; Grantham Village School; Memorial School, Bedford, and Windham Center School.

Not a city school to be found on the top 10 list outside of Portsmouth.

Mason and Lafayette are small rural schools with small student populations.

The rest are in property wealthy communities where it is much easier to raise money for education because the tax base provides considerable amounts of property value per student, which aligns with the consultants findings when they did their study.

If you look at the Department of Education’s data on the state assessment tests, some of it incomplete due to school size, the picture is much the same.

Just looking at the reading proficiency scores for the schools. Two stand out in the state: Dresden, which includes Hanover and Norwich, Vt., had 98, with exceptional above 100. The other high-end number of note is Exeter at 92.

There are probably a lot of educators’ kids in those figures.

Bedford, which had three elementary schools in the US News and World Report’s top-10 rankings, had a districtwide 82, just above Bow, Grantham and Portsmouth at 80, while Newfields was at 85.

On the other end of the scale is Claremont at 38, Farmington at 44, Barnstead at 47 and Manchester at 49.

This is not a scientific listing, but a comparison of known property wealthy communities to those that struggle to provide their students with an adequate education.

The other thing that has been shown to impact students success or achievement is parental involvement and a stable home life.

Parents who read to their children or who read with their children help boost their reading levels and proficiency scores.

Not all education happens in the classroom.

And a child who comes to school hungry is not going to be interested in whatever is being taught and instead will be dreaming of his or her next meal under the free and reduced lunch program.

Teachers received a standing ovation from lawmakers when Ayotte gave them a shout out during her State-of-the-State address, but later that day the House members voted to expand the Education Freedom Account program which draws money out of the Education Trust Fund which provides state aid to schools, and told teachers they could not use materials from the World Economic Forum in school curriculums although President Trump spoke at the group’s forum last week in Switzerland.

Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, agreed with Ayotte’s message in her speech, that teachers and support staff are the most important component in providing students a quality education.

“Educators want to do more for our students. We aren’t defending the status quo; we’re fighting for improvement. Teachers and support staff want smaller classes and caseloads, more individualized support, and better outcomes for students. We deserve to know if our children are learning the curriculum and life skills they need to build bright futures. But let’s be clear—standardized tests don’t tell us that. Tests tell us how well kids take tests, whether they have a stable home life, and how well their community is able to invest in their education,” she said. “It is essential to remember that we are educating the whole child, not just delivering textbooks and tests. Educators are doing everything we can to make sure every student reaches their full potential. This is about investment, not excuses.”

And it is important to remember New Hampshire is last in the nation — not first — in state funding for public education providing just over 22 percent of the cost, while your property taxes provide 70 percent of the funding. The national average is just below 50 percent.

The best and most efficient way to improve student reading scores is for the state to live up to its constitutional obligation to provide every public school student an adequate education and to pay for it.

The state has a long way to go to meet its obligations.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

Distant Dome by veteran journalist Garry Rayno explores a broader perspective on the State House and state happenings for InDepthNH.org. Over his three-decade career, Rayno covered the NH State House for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Foster’s Daily Democrat. During his career, his coverage spanned the news spectrum, from local planning, school and select boards, to national issues such as electric industry deregulation and Presidential primaries. Rayno lives with his wife Carolyn in New London.

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New Hampshire

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

Published

9 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.

“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.

“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”

Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.

“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.

He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”

Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks with voters in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 7, 2026.

Anne Bryson

For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.

“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”

Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.

CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on March 5, 2026.

Anne Bryson

Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.

29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.

“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.

While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.

“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,

“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.

“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.

Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.

“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.

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New Hampshire

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Published

21 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Local News

Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.

A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.

Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.

The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.