Editor’s note: This commentary is by Mairead Harris, who is a Montpelier resident and Chinese language teacher at the secondary and post-secondary levels. She is a graduate of Vermont public schools and has taught students ages 3 to 73 in schools around the world.
[T]he nationwide attack on public schools has found its way to Vermont. As a teacher, a Montpelier resident, and a lifelong Vermonter, I am disturbed that Gov. Phil Scott is holding the state budget hostage in a last-ditch effort to squeeze funding from our public schools. This proposal is not about a fair negotiation; it is a state imposition on one of our most valuable institutions.
Voters made their message loud and clear on Town Meeting Day. Vermont voters support our local schools and the opportunities they provide. Unable to persuade Vermonters to vote down their school budgets in March, some in Montpelier have now launched an offensive directly on teachers. The proposal coming out of the governor’s office is nothing less than a state-mandated cut to teachers’ compensation in the form of increased health care costs without increased salary.
It only costs $12.88 per hour for a child in Vermont to attend public K-12 school.
There’s a lot of discussion in our state about the cost of public education, but here’s one statistic that you won’t hear the governor cite: It only costs $12.88 per hour for a child in Vermont to attend public K-12 school. At less than it would cost to hire a babysitter, our students receive a high-quality education from well-trained professionals, learning everything from the basics of reading to the most difficult concepts of calculus. When considered through this lens, Vermont public schools deliver not just low cost, but also high value. Our state consistently ranks in the top tier for educational outcomes as determined by U.S. News & World Report and other national organizations.
Cutting teachers’ compensation leads to an erosion in the quality of education. When teachers’ compensation is cut, they must find outside work to make ends meet. Many teachers already have side jobs. I have three. Teachers wait tables, tutor, paint houses and do landscaping. The more energy and time we put into these outside jobs, the less we have left for the work that we are passionate about: teaching our students.
Teachers, the very people who are working to build Vermont’s future, are the scapegoat for our political leaders’ failure to make real, meaningful reforms. Teachers, who also pay property taxes, understand what is at stake here. But rather than addressing the real issues — such as the high cost of health care, declining pupil enrollment and our aging population — the Scott administration is dangling an oversimplified plan that would have little effect on property tax rates and would have a markedly negative impact on our children’s future.
(On the math: The average equalized per-pupil spending in our state is $14,651 for the 2017 fiscal year, according to data from the Vermont Agency of Education. $14,651/175 minimum student days /6.5 average hours per school day = $12.88 per hour.)
