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Franklin, NH has had a tax cap in place since 1989. Several years after it was passed,
the cap language had to be changed to prevent any rise in assessments from allowing a
"back door" tax hike. The cap was overwhelming confirmed by the voters, garnering three-
quarters of the vote.
With careful planning and prioritizing, Franklin has been able to accomplish a lot in their
city. They've paved roads, landscaped, even renovated their schools including a $5 million
renovation of Franklin High School in 1999. They've addressed educational deficiencies and
have met the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) standards for all areas of study and all student
groups for the third year in a row. They have implemented various programs to keep their
kids in school and brought their high dropout rate down to an enviable 2.3% this year, lower
than Concord's 3.4% for this year.
By contrast, Laconia did not meet its AYP standards for
either math or reading, this being the second year in a row that Laconia hasn't met the
AYP for reading. Furthermore, Laconia's dropout rate for last year was 3.8% (The Concord
Monitor article from which this year's dropout rate figures for Concord and Franklin
came did not list the percentage for Laconia, so we are comparing them with last year's).
All of these achievements have been accomplished under the tax cap.
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Check out the report about the $5 million renovation of Franklin High by clicking
here.
You can see pictures of the renovation by following the link above that report or
by clicking
here.
Click here to read the text of the Concord Monitor article
about Franklin's lowered dropout rate.
To read about Lakes Region Schools and their progress under the No Child Left Behind
program click here.
Ken Merrifield, City Councilor in Franklin, NH, answers missinformation
about Franklin put out by "Laconians for Sensible Government"
here.
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