Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rep. Scott Beck, a Republican of St. Johnsbury, who is a member of the House Ways & Means Committee.
Everyone knew before the Covid-19 crisis that Vermont’s State Colleges were struggling. It has been a decadeslong swim against the tide of declining enrollments, demographic shifts, moving education landscape, and anemic state funding. But the swan song from Montpelier must be getting old by now for those at VSC, “The state has mercilessly underfunded you, your enrollment has declined and deferred maintenance skyrocketed, we told you so.” The absurdity of this statement has only been allowed to play out because VSC hasn’t fought back, at least in public.
Educators aren’t fighters by nature, they are patient collaborators adept at doing more with less, until less becomes none. They adapt to the shifting landscape and quietly go about their business, educating young minds. I hear their pleas in emails and phone calls, unsure about their future and the future of the post-secondary institutions that they have poured their adult life into.
Vermont deserves a state college system that is right-sized and provides graduates with the degrees and certifications that will help Vermont prosper. The VSC system deserves a financial commitment from the state that will allow them to complete this mission. VSC has followed through, the state has not. A million or two isn’t going to make up for lost decades.
Nearly half of Vermont’s high school graduates don’t pursue post-secondary education or training because they can’t afford it. Many that do pursue post-secondary education leave Vermont because it is cheaper to get an education out of state. The bottom line is that these are the students that would make the VSC vibrant and provide the workforce that Vermont requires as it gets even older.
Vermont has the 10th highest per capita tax burden in the nation even though our incomes are average. Surely with this relationship, Vermont would have enough money to properly support its Vermont State Colleges, think again.
Vermont is chronically underfunding the VSC (and many other worthy initiatives) because its budget is increasingly consumed by two areas of spending: annual unfunded pension liability payments and the education fund. The unfunded pension liability payment now exceeds $200 million annually and we are spending nearly $2 billion to support 87,000 Pre-K-12 students, both continue to grow unsustainably. The education fund alone is set to increase by $73 million in FY21.
VSC must address this inequity head on and be prepared for a difficult fight, nobody else will do this for them. The guardians of these two spending areas for all intents and purposes own the Statehouse: the Vermont State Employees’ Association and the Vermont National Education Association. They expect unsustainable increases and will resist any attempt to put a quarter turn on the spigot. In many ways they perform an amazing job advocating for their members, and their members provide exceptional service to Vermonters. But they have to be realistic, the budget is not keeping up with their budget demands and other worthy recipients like VSC are being crushed.
Our Vermont State Colleges must feel like they have only two options, get pushed in front of the bus or jump in front of it. Neither option ensures the success of VSC, only a bus course correction will. VSC and the state have to find the courage to force the bus to make a slight course correction. If they can’t, Vermont will suffer.
