Editor’s note: This commentary is by Cyrus Patten, who is a licensed social worker and executive director of Campaign for Vermont , a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization. He lives in Monkton.
[T]he buzz is building around the need to reform Vermont’s education system and for good reason. The teachers I speak with are talented but frustrated with bureaucracy. The governance and funding systems that support it are in need of a more thoughtful solution than was attempted last session. The parents I speak with are concerned about the cost of education particularly as it relates to the outcomes. Now is the time for smart reform of our education governance and funding systems.
Local school boards are not single-handedly responsible for raising property taxes in Vermont despite what you might hear from some elected officials. The reality is that student numbers are declining, and expenses continue to rise. Our 277 school districts do not have the flexibility and economies of scale to deal with these challenges. All the while, property values have remained flat as part of a sputtering economic recovery.
Although many people must play a role to enact smart reform of these systems, there are only two groups charged with enacting change: the administration and Legislature.
Let’s get a couple facts straight so we are all on the same page.
Fact: According to the Agency of Education, we spend, on average, $17,512 to educate each of Vermont’s 85,460 students.
Fact: Vermont has 307 schools operates by 277 districts through 46 supervisory unions, 12 supervisory districts and two interstate districts.
Fact: Vermont students perform better than the national average on most measures of academic achievement tracked by the Agency of Education.
There is not disagreement; we all want our children to have a top-tier public education, but it should be affordable and locally managed.
The school board blame game must stop and the push to have Vermonters vote down their school budgets as a means of curbing growth is a political misdirection. This approach only punishes students, teachers and local schools without actually addressing the core problem: our governance and funding system is inefficient.
Campaign for Vermont believes Vermonters should instead direct their efforts toward their legislators who have the opportunity to enact meaningful reform that won’t punish students but will measurably increase efficiency and decrease the costs of delivering a world-class education to our children; children who deserve better than partisan games.
Campaign for Vermont’s proposal calls for the consolidation of Vermont’s 58 supervisory unions and districts into approximately 15 Regional Education Administration Districts, we could divert valuable resources from administration to the classroom and to reducing property taxes. These districts would establish a unified, regional budget that’s managed through existing local school districts and consequently take advantage of new economies of scale and opportunity. Consolidation of some school districts would inevitably occur; but this would be driven by local voters and regional oversight as opposed to a mandate from the top.
We agree and will continue to advocate for policies that successfully ensure districts offer our children substantially equal access to educational resources. However, our research finds no statistical support research of the assumption that higher per-pupil spending leads to better educational outcomes. The argument that we have to spend more to get more is baseless. Thus, it’s time to stop chastising those who are concerned that Vermont spends more than 47 other states on public education. There is more common ground to be found than some would have us believe.
Vermont has more non-teaching staff per student than any other state according to the Picus Report. This is is a problem that must be addressed if we hope to curb the unsustainable growth in property taxes.
There is not disagreement; we all want our children to have a top-tier public education, but it should be affordable and locally managed.
As an independent, non-partisan advocacy group, Campaign for Vermont has committed a great deal of time to researching and evaluating Vermont’s education governance and funding mechanisms. If we can drop the partisanship and talk about solutions, we may very well make some progress on this important issue.
Realizing the goal of shared economic prosperity for all will require tough decisions and political will. I remain optimistic these can be summoned up this year. Candidates around the state are hearing from their constituents: this is the time for change.
The Legislature has the responsibility, the capacity and the information to pass meaningful school governance and funding reform this year. All they need is a nudge engage from you.
