New Hampshire schools may face growing challenges recruiting and retaining teachers in the years ahead. A new NHFPI analysis finds that schools are projected to have more than 1,100 teacher openings each year over the next decade, while fewer students are completing education degrees, a growing share of the school workforce is approaching retirement age, and teacher pay and New Hampshire’s high cost of living may make it harder to attract and retain educators.
NHFPI will bring together policymakers, researchers, advocates, journalists, and community leaders on Friday, December 4, 2026, for a full day of data-driven discussions about the issues and decisions that will shape the state’s next budget.
New Hampshire’s labor market has strengthened in 2026 after a difficult 2025, but the headline numbers do not tell the full story of how Granite State workers and families are faring.
Property taxpayers now fund more than seven out of every ten dollars spent on New Hampshire's public schools, while New Hampshire ranks last in the nation for the share of public education revenue provided through State funding, according to a new analysis from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.
After lawmakers passed the State Budget, several state agencies were required to make additional significant "back-of-budget" spending reductions, leaving agency officials to decide which programs would absorb the cuts. NHFPI's new analysis examines how the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services implemented its required $25.5 million reduction for the first year of the State Budget biennium. The analysis finds that the required reductions affected programs that help Granite Staters access mental health care, support children and families, protect public health, and put food on the table. The report also warns that larger service impacts are likely this fiscal year as one-time savings are largely exhausted and new federal policy changes increase financial pressures on state health care spending.
NHFPI is pleased to welcome Emily Soule as a New Hampshire State Policy Fellow through the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ State Priorities Partnership.
