The state says kindergarten is included in the definition of an adequate education. Towns without kindergarten, like Salem, Pelham and Windham, are supposed to start one by 2009, and will get some help from the state to build classrooms or to rent trailers to make space.

Of course, no money is being offered for the ongoing cost of running these classes – paying teacher salaries, buy supplies and providing transportation.

And even if the state were offering money, does it really make a difference? The money comes from the taxpayer anyway, so it’s being taken out of one pocket or the other.

No one is arguing against kindergarten as an ideal. We all want to give our children the best education possible.

But the problem is a complex one and goes right back to the same old source: the way education is funded in New Hampshire.

A broad-based tax is neither economically nor politically viable in New Hampshire. But until the state solves its funding dilemma, many towns, not just the ones without kindergarten, will struggle to provide a fair and adequate education for students.

- Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board.

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