A Campaign for Vermont report questions the efficacy of consolidating school districts.
The public policy research group last month released a statistical analysis that shows there is little to no correlation between school district size, education spending levels and student proficiency.
The report was written by Tom Pelham, former Finance Commissioner under Gov. Howard Dean, then Tax Commissioner and Secretary of Administration under Gov. Jim Douglas. Pelham was assisted by Benjamin Kinsley, Campaign for Vermont’s policy and operations manager.
Pelham says the data suggest that district consolidation would neither lower spending nor improve outcomes.
In the report, Pelham says a district’s spending and size are unrelated. Both high and low spending and variable levels of achievement are found across Vermont school districts, regardless of how many students each district serves, according to Pelham. Some large and small districts have high student achievement levels, while others are struggling.
Pelham says the findings are not definitive.
“We’re not saying it’s the be-all, end-all (analysis),” Pelham said. “But it’s better than anyone else has done.”
Part of the Campaign for Vermont report’s importance, Pelham says, is the introduction of educational outcomes to the discussion of school district consolidation.
Rebecca Holcombe, the secretary of the Agency of Education, says the report doesn’t take enough variables into account.
For example, district size is measured against NECAP scores without controlling for income levels in each district, she says. A separate analysis of income and student performance doesn’t factor district size into the equation.
Pelham partly agrees with Holcombe’s criticism.
“Absolutely. We’re hoping to start this ball rolling,” Pelham said. “What we need to have happen, though, is not have our reforms in education funding premised upon these urban myths that consolidation of districts is going to solve the problem.”
Since 2005, Vermont has used the New England Common Assessment Program to measure student achievement and evaluate school performance. In addition to low science and math test scores, statewide results in 2014 show persistent achievement gaps between students from wealthier and poorer families.
Pelham said that, in addition to more closely examining district size in relation to student outcomes, he’d like to see the state analyze the connection between household income and proficiency. The report suggests that the higher achievement levels of children from wealthier families are not merely a function of income.
“Everyone’s out here looking at school districts and supervisory unions,” Pelham said. “But if you look at where the best results come from, it’s an indicator not associated with the school building, but with the home.”
The organization calls on the Agency of Education to integrate data with the Agency of Human Services, which Pelham says could help both agencies better leverage public investments to improve student outcomes.
Rep. Johannah Donovan, D-Burlington, who currently chairs the House Committee on Education, spearheaded an unsuccessful effort to consolidate school districts last legislative session.
She remains convinced that consolidated districts would offer students broadened educational opportunities.
Donovan welcomed deeper statistical analyses to support improvements in outcomes. “I think any time we can shine a light with more information on any issue, we’re better off,” she said.
