New Hampshire

Distant Dome: Student Reading Scores Follow the Money

Published

3 weeks 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

New Hampshire employment law in 2026 – NH Business Review

Published

2 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

New Hampshire employment law in 2026 – NH Business Review

What employers are getting wrong, and how to fix it before it becomes a claim

New Hampshire’s employment law landscape heading into 2026 may not be dramatically different from last year, but the real risks lie in implementation missteps. From the initial setting of wages, to calculating and distributing wages, employers will likely find a specific statute and/or labor regulation governing the transaction. Failure to follow these detailed wage and hour laws can result in significant back wages and other penalties being imposed by the state or federal Department of Labor following an audit. Fortunately, however, this area of employment law is relatively easy to master, once you are familiar with the basics.

Notice compliance

One of the most common pitfalls for employers in New Hampshire is misunderstanding the wage and hour notice requirements under RSA 275 and the related New Hampshire Department of Labor Administrative Rules.

At the time of hire, employers must notify employees in writing of their rate of pay and the day and place of payment. This notice is traditionally delivered to employees by way of an offer letter or some sort of “New Hire Rate of Pay” form. (A sample form is available from the New Hampshire Department of Labor website.) What surprises most employers, however, is that Lab. 803.03(f)(6) also requires employers to request and obtain their employees’ signatures on this written notification of wages, and employers must keep a copy of the signed written notification of wages on file. Further, employers must notify employees in writing during the course of employment of any changes to wages or day of pay prior to such changes taking effect, and the employer must obtain the employee’s signature on this subsequent notification as well. (See RSA 275:49; Lab. 803.03.)

Employers are further required to notify employees in writing, or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to employees, of:

• employment practices and policies with regard to vacation pay, sick leave and other fringe benefits.

• deductions made from the employee’s payroll check, for each period such deductions are made.

• information regarding the deductions allowed from wage payments under state law. (RSA 275:49; Lab. 803.03.)

Policies regarding vacation and sick leave should inform employees whether or not the employer will “cash out” unused time at year end or at the end of employment, and if so, under what terms. Again, if any changes are made to vacation pay, sick leave and other fringe benefits during the course of employment (all of which are considered “wages” under New Hampshire law), employers must request and obtain their employees’ signatures on the written notification of the change, and must keep a copy of the signed form on file. (Lab. 803.03.) Importantly, notification by way of pay stub alone is not sufficient, and, these requirements apply to both increases and decreases in pay.

Two-hour minimum (reporting pay)

Another frequently overlooked obligation is New Hampshire’s two-hour minimum reporting pay requirement. Under RSA 275:43-a, non-exempt employees who report to work but are sent home early must generally be paid for at least two hours. Weather-related closures, client cancellations or operational slowdown days can trigger this rule. Employers should also note that the New Hampshire Department of Labor currently applies this law to remote-based employees. Consequently, employees who “report to work” at an employer’s request from a home office may likewise have a right to two hours of pay, depending on the circumstances.

Salaried vs. hourly employees

Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime remains a significant source of compliance exposure. The position’s job duties — not the titles or label such as “salaried” — determine whether an employee qualifies for an overtime exemption.

Employers, particularly in nonprofits, health care and small businesses, unintentionally misapply exempt classifications to roles such as administrative staff, office managers, executive assistants, program coordinators or hybrid jobs that involve significant non-exempt tasks. Over time, as organizational needs evolve and employees take on broader responsibilities, job duties can drift outside of an exemption’s scope.

Best practice is to periodically review job descriptions and actual job duties to ensure continued compliance with exemption criteria, particularly following any significant restructuring or job redesigns.

Peg O’Brien is chair of McLane Middleton’s Employment Law Practice Group. She can be reached at margaret.o’brien@mclane.com.

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New Hampshire

New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

Published

14 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

Local News

“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” said the family of the victim.

A new photo has been released of the victim in a nearly 30-year-long unsolved murder case, in the hope of finding any new potential witnesses in the cold case, New Hampshire officials said.

“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” the family of Rosalie Miller said in a press release. “We miss her and want to give her peace.”

Miller was last seen on December 8, 1996 at her apartment in Manchester. At the time of her disappearance, Miller had plans on meeting friends in the Auburn, New Hampshire area, officials said.

Her body was found on January 20, 1997 in a partially wooded spot on a residential lot along the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn, officials said in the release.

The autopsy report declared Miller’s death a homicide by asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation, N.H. officials wrote.

As part of a new effort to garner public help with the case, an “uncirculated” photo of Miller, 36, is being distributed “in hopes it may jog the memory of someone who saw or spoke with her in the winter of 1996,” Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced on behalf of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in a joint press release.

Investigators are especially hoping to talk to anyone who was in contact with Miller in December of 1996 or anyone “who may have seen her in the vicinity of the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn during that time,” officials said in the release.

The newly released photo of Rosalie Miller, 36, who was strangled to death nearly 30 years ago. – Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall

“We are releasing this new photograph today because we believe someone out there has information, perhaps a detail they thought was insignificant at the time, that could be the key to solving this case and bringing justice for Rosalie and those who loved her,” Senior Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles, New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Chief said in the release.

The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit encourages anyone with any amount of information to contact the group at [email protected] or (603) 271-2663.