Timberlane Regional School District residents and two state senators turned out at the Performing Arts Center on Monday night to learn how the state’s school funding mechanism is affecting communities.

The presentation was led by attorney John Tobin, who was part of the landmark Claremont education funding case before the state Supreme Court in the 1990s. He said the current funding system is hurting students, taxpayers, and home and business owners.

Tobin gave the presentation on behalf of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project, which has presented over 30 public forums since June.

Armed with charts and diagrams, Tobin showed the crowd — including Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, and Sen. Chuck Morse, R-Salem — examples of per-pupil costs in various communities.

He explained how over 70 percent of the cost of educating students is funded by local taxpayers with “greatly different tax rates depending on the total value of the property in each district.”

“People are being hurt at various levels of severity, but a lot of people are being hurt,” Tobin said of communities’ differing tax rates.

Read the full report here.