Spencer Wyand lives in Bradford.

Education funding in New Hampshire has gotten pretty interesting of late. I have no issue, or at least had no issue, paying for education for kids.

However, this conversation has become so dishonest and insane that I have to say that I am no longer in favor of our K-12 schools. The problem with government schools in New Hampshire is not funding. Rather, the problem is the lack of accountability, administrative and board incompetence, and abuse of taxpayers.

The Kearsarge Regional School District (KRSD) is a perfect example of the high cost of education in New Hampshire. How can anyone honestly think that we should be spending $33,000 (56,245,098/1668) a year to educate a K-12 student? How can anyone argue for that in good faith? Especially when you consider the costs associated with one of the best business schools in the country and the top public business school in New England.

It costs roughly $19,000 for an in-state student at UNH (excluding room and board). With room and board, it costs roughly $34,000. Meaning that an in-state student can go to UNH, live on campus, and eat at the dining halls whenever they want for the same price that we pay for a K-12 student. Please make it make sense.

Does Kearsarge have better facilities than UNH? Does it have better and more expensive sports than UNH? Does it pay teachers, administrators, and coaches more than UNH? Does it have more expensive school equipment than UNH? Does it have better social services than UNH? Does it have better nursing services than UNH? Is there anything that Kearsarge does better than UNH? Any objective and informed person would say no.

How can it possibly cost $14,000 more, I’ll say it again, $14,000 more to educate a third grader than a 19-year-old who is going to the 60th best business school in the entire United States?

As another example of high costs, consider that the average size of a third grade classroom is 25 students, and the cost per student of $33,000 means the “cost” for those students for one year of third grade comes to $825,000.

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Of this, the teacher gets $60,000, maybe $90,000 with benefits. So where is the remaining $735,000 going? No one will tell us. K-12 schools don’t even pay the teachers well and somehow the costs are still crazy. It would be one thing if the costs were higher, and those costs were going to paying teachers a six-figure salary, but they aren’t! How much money do our schools “need?”

In all honesty, the only way out of this is through universal school choice. This is the reason why I voted for the Republican legislature in this state because the only way to hold these districts accountable is to make them compete.

But alas, I am running out of words and will have to explain how dishonest people are when it comes to the EFA system in New Hampshire as well.