The United States has a higher level of income inequality than any other western nation. And in areas where families don’t have the resources to support children, education suffers, a leading expert told Vermont school board members and superintendents at an annual meeting on Thursday.
“Achievement is not just about gaps it is also about connecting the mental health and physical health issues that the students have,” Andrew Hargreaves said.
The annual conference sponsored by the Vermont Superintendents Association and the Vermont School Board Association is focused on helping schools address the challenges of poverty, addiction, disability and discrimination.
Hargreaves, a professor at Boston College, used the keynote presentation to focus on the role of school boards and superintendents in helping build up all schools across district and county lines through collaboration.
Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe also spoke to the growing income divide in Vermont. There are fewer students and a shrinking working age middle class to support them.
“We are getting a hollowing out of the middle class,” Holcombe said, “a polarization of income in Vermont leaving a group that is marginalized with fewer and fewer options.”
Holcombe encouraged school board members and superintendents to keep their eye on equity. “Your prosperity is tied to the most vulnerable child in your community,” she said.
Last year’s conference was focused on Act 46, the school district consolidation law that had been passed in the previous legislative session. Each year, Jeff Francis, head of the Vermont Superintendents Association, said they target themes for the annual conference that are timely and relevant for their members.
“Achieving greater equity in our schools and better understanding and addressing bias are both critically important in Vermont – and in the country,” he said.
