[A] lawsuit out of Whitingham challenging the constitutionality of Vermont’s education funding formula will continue into the discovery process.
Superior Court Judge Robert Gerety decided against the state’s motion to dismiss last month, ruling that the case be allowed to go forward.
The suit, brought by Twin Valley Middle High School student Sadie Boyd, Whitingham taxpayer Madeline Klein and the town of Whitingham, argues that the state’s system for funding schools violates the Vermont Constitution’s clauses on common benefits, proportional contribution, and education.
“The fundamental issue as it relates to Whitingham is that they are paying very high taxes as if they have a Cadillac of a school, when in fact their school offers less than comparable schools in comparable towns,” said Brattleboro-based attorney James Valente, who represents the plaintiffs.
In Vermont, property taxes pay for a significant portion of the state’s pre-K-12 schooling costs, and local education property taxes are calculated based on how much a local school district spends – not in total, but per pupil. Because certain types of students cost more to educate – for example, those who are low-income – the state’s formula for calculating tax rates weighs different types of students differently. To control costs, the state also imposes a tax penalty on districts who spend above a certain amount per student.
The Twin Valley unified district, which Whitingham is part of, spends more per-pupil, according to the state’s formula, than the vast majority of school districts. For this, Whitingham taxpayers are regularly hit with the excess-spending tax penalty.
Valente doesn’t dispute that Twin Valley is a high-spender. But he argues that to penalize it accordingly is unfair.
“The problem is that the formula does not recognize that high spending does not necessarily mean high discretionary spending,” he said.
To meet state and federal mandates, Valente argues, like maximum student-to-teacher ratios, Twin Valley has little choice but to spend what it does.
The suit also outlines how few educational and extracurricular opportunities Twin Valley Middle High School is able to offer compared to its larger counterparts. Valente says the school, where enrollment hovers around 220 students, is in the “opposite of a sweet spot.” It’s too small to benefit from economies of scale – but just large enough not to benefit from special subsidies for Vermont’s smallest schools.
Increasingly high property taxes and reduced offerings in the state’s rural high schools, especially compared to larger campuses in more urban areas, are both of increasing concern in Vermont’s education policy circles. But some doubt the Whitingham suit will advance the debate.
“I frankly don’t think this thing’s got legs,” said William Mathis, vice chair of the State Board of Education. A former superintendent, Mathis helped spearhead the litigation effort behind the state Supreme Court case that spawned Act 60, the landmark 1997 law that overhauled the state’s school funding system.
“They’re wanting equal ed dollars but not equal ed taxes,” he said.
Rep. David Sharpe, D-Bristol, the outgoing chair of the House Education Committee, is similarly skeptical Whitingham’s lawsuit will go very far.
“People have been complaining about Act 60 since it was passed,” he said. “Is our system completely fair? No. Is it fairer than any other system in the nation? I think it is.”
But Sharpe said he sympathizes with the pressures felt in Whittingham and other small, rural districts, especially in an era of shrinking enrollment. But he said Act 60 wasn’t to blame, though state lawmakers have regularly tweaked Vermont’s education funding formula in the years since.
“I was in the Legislature 16 years and I think we tinkered with it every year. And we certainly had proposals every year,” he said.
The tinkering is unlikely to stop, whatever the suit’s outcome. The Legislature has ordered a study on how the education funding formula weighs students when calculating tax rates, due out November 2019.
A special task force, meanwhile, has been convened by the governor to study how to lower costs by increasing student-to-staff ratios. It is expected to make its recommendations in time for lawmakers to pick up the topic when the legislative session reboots in January.