A new report by the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies is entitled "What is New Hampshire?" Its subtitle: "A collection of data for those seeking answers."

The report contains a wealth of information on voting patterns, health care spending, the economy, the corrections system and other matters. In many respects, it makes for a depressing read.

The worst news in the report will come as no surprise to school officials and taxpayers in the communities that launched the Claremont school funding lawsuits two decades ago. After 20 years of battles, and despite repeated legislative action, the gap between property-rich and property-poor towns is almost as wide as it was in the worst of times.

The Claremont lawsuits were about two things: educational responsibility and tax equity. The state Supreme Court held that educating schoolchildren is a state, not a local, responsibility. At the time, the state funded about 10 percent of the cost of public education, the lowest state contribution in the land.

The court also held that the state constitution mandates that taxes be levied reasonably and proportionately. That means that if providing an adequate education is a state responsibility, the owner of a home valued at $200,000 in one community should pay roughly the same education tax rate as the owner of a $200,000 home in another community. That's not remotely true.