To the Editor:
I finished reading “The Last Bake Sale” by Andru Volinsky. I can’t recommend it strongly enough. As a generational New Hampshire native — raised in Allenstown, raising a family in Newport — I’ve long felt the injustice of our school funding system in my gut. This book gave voice and context to that feeling, revealing how our failure to fairly fund education both reflects and reinforces inequality.
I’ve watched talented kids have their future limited — not because of who they are, but because of where they live and what their town can afford. I’ve seen how these inequities lock entire communities into cycles of economic stagnation. Years ago, I heard one of Andru’s “School Funding 101” presentations — an experience that lit a fire in me. But the book brought it all together — legal strategy, political history, race, class, equity, constitutional law, and the raw truth of how power, politics, and greed shape our state’s resistance to fulfilling its constitutional obligation.
It was humbling, enlightening, infuriating and heartbreaking. Also filled with pride — for the heroes I already knew and those I met in these pages. Most of all, it left me with something rare: hope. As Andru wrote, “change can happen.” And it must.
“The Last Bake Sale” isn’t just a diagnosis — it’s a call to action. It offers a map, a mirror and a moral compass for anyone who cares about justice and the future of our children.
Every taxpayer and parent in New Hampshire should read it. Andru Volinsky will do a book signing event on Thursday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the CSB Community Center at 152 South Street in Claremont. It is open to the public.
Kathy Hubert
Newport, NH
