If the ESA grants were distributed equitably throughout the state, the General Fund impact would be relatively low.  But if the ESA grants are concentrated in a relatively few communities, the call on stabilization funds will be much higher. The table below shows the impact.

If the participation rate is only 1% and the grants are spread evenly to all 176 school districts throughout the State, the districts pay most of the cost out of their 1/4%. If, just for illustration purposes, the grants all went to the 5 largest high need communities in which the ETC has concentrated its work, the General Fund impact is very large, as shown in the table.

The figures in this table are not predictions. They illustrate the difference between hypothetically, an even distribution of grants to all school districts in New Hampshire, and another hypothetical – granting the same amount of money to students in just 5 communities.

This comparison shows the impact on the general fund of concentrating the grants in selected communities, as the ETC program has done, vs. distributing the grants more equitably throughout the state.

As written in SB 193 the decision of were to make grants is made by an independent scholarship organization.