In Part II, Article 83 of the New Hampshire Constitution, our Founders set forth a command for the state to provide an education for its children: “(I)t shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, in all seminaries and public schools…” Interestingly, this is only one of two provisions found in our constitution in which the people impose an affirmative duty on their government to take positive action on their behalf.

Since our constitution was adopted, public education has been promoted and provided by the state, but largely through the delegation of this constitutional authority to local school districts, and paid for through local property taxes at least until 1997. The New Hampshire Supreme Court in its 1997 Claremont II decision effectively eliminated local control, local funding and the opportunity for meaningful targeted aid from our education delivery system.

Control of our educational system does not belong in the hands of unelected judges; it belongs in the hands of the duly elected Legislature and governor working directly with and through local government. As chairman of the state Board of Education at the time, I participated in the Claremont suits. I fought them, and I know full well how important it is to fix this problem. The time is now to adopt a constitutional amendment to reverse this decision on two grounds.

First, the court held that it could review education laws pursuant to a “strict scrutiny” standard, meaning that the court does not presume that the laws passed by the Legislature are constitutional; rather the court allows itself to sit as a “super-Legislature,” substituting its own judgment for that of the legislative branch in establishing education policy and funding. A constitutional amendment must restore to the Legislature the power over establishing a public education system.

Second, the court held that the education “duty” is essentially “non-delegable,” meaning the state must directly oversee and implement education policy and pay for it directly. Accordingly, under its reasoning the responsibility for providing a constitutionally adequate education and guaranteeing its funding rests solely at the state level and not with local communities.

Because New Hampshire is not a home rule state, a constitutional amendment is needed to restore the ability of the state to delegate power over public education policy and funding to local communities to achieve local control.

In the past 15 years since Claremont II was decided, I have worked alongside business leaders, taxpayers, legal experts and elected officials to develop a constitutional amendment that would restore local control and funding over public education. With Gov. John Lynch and Republican legislative leaders expressing support for such a constitutional amendment, the time is now to provide the people an opportunity to reverse the Claremont II decision.

I understand that there are some conservatives who reject the proposition that an amendment is needed. I respectfully disagree. Restoring local control and eliminating the “donor town” system of funding education must be handled as a matter of constitutional law. I also understand that there are some liberals who likewise reject the idea of an amendment, with their reasoning being simply that they favor a broad-based tax and know passing an amendment would reduce the chance of New Hampshire adopting one. Their perspective makes clear that our failure to act will leave our state vulnerable to a broad-based sales or income tax. This is unacceptable, and something I would veto as governor.

I have made resolving the education funding issue one of my top priorities as a candidate for governor. I urge the Legislature and Gov. Lynch to reach agreement now on a constitutional amendment that makes it clear that it is for the Legislature — not the court — to set education policy and to establish the funding mechanism to support it. Such an amendment will allow the Legislature to restore true local control over public education, delegate authority, and target aid to those communities that require support.

The stakes on this issue are too high to allow it to be derailed by partisanship or ideological purity. I am ready to fight for New Hampshire’s future and work with leaders of both parties to place a properly worded amendment on the ballot in 2012. After nearly 15 years of delay and disagreement, our families, our businesses and our children deserve nothing less.

Ovide Lamontagne is a Manchester attorney and a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. He was chairman of the State Board of Education from 1993 through 1996.