Letter to the Editor: Regarding School Choice funds

Mar 30, 2026

To the Editor,

School choice is a program that lets school districts voluntarily accept students from outside the district. When that student transfer is done, as Dartmouth Public Schools have accepted, the funds for educating those students are transferred from the sending district to the receiving district. Those funds are meant to be used for the cost of educating the additional students. Rather than retain any school choice funds, they should be immediately used to fund the school budget. Otherwise, there is no point in taking on more students. Every cent of school choice funds not used for school operations must be provided by the Dartmouth taxpayers. I don’t know why Dartmouth schools need to “wean” themselves away from spending school choice funds. Spend the school choice money for what it was intended, offsetting the cost of educating out of district children without the added burden to the Dartmouth taxpayer.